Isaiah Grant
The Corsair
This is for all high school graduates who plan on attending an institute of higher learning. As soon as you are enrolled at a college or university, you must seize the moment and take care of your business to make the four years seem like a breeze and graduate with a degree. I know some of you are naturally lazy, but you are also old and rational enough to know that accomplishing something comes through hard work and determination.
I’m a community college student in my third year at Pensacola State College; I’m supposed to be at the school for two years, but I goofed off during my first year. My wakeup call was being on financial aid suspension for having a GPA less than 1.50. I wised up and decided to improve my work ethic and take courses required for my A.A. degree. I have wisdom for all of you.
Be sure to be enrolled in classes every semester. One reason I’m at a community college for a third year is because I took some semesters off. If you’re enrolled in class every semester, you’ll graduate sooner.
Be sure to be enrolled in several classes during a semester. If you take three to four classes every semester during a school year, you’ll end up with 25-35 credits. Ditto for the next one to three years and you’ll graduate just like that. When you pass a course that’s required for your degree, you usually earn three credits. You need 60 credits to graduate from a two-year college and 120 from a four-year university.
Be sure to complete anything financial aid-related as soon as possible. If you have financial aid, you’ll have the money to buy books for class and enroll yourself in a good number of classes to graduate as soon as possible. In my first year of community college, I got a D in Intermediate Algebra; I made that grade in that course because I didn’t have financial aid to buy a textbook. If I submitted proof of my SSI to the financial aid office at the beginning of the year, I would have had the money to buy a textbook.
Doing these things will pole-vault you over a crossbar called college.