The transition from high school to college is something a lot of high school graduates look forward to experiencing. There is more freedom and more responsibilities. How students handle those responsibilities plays a huge role in the success of their college career.

Freshman year is one of the most exciting because it is a fresh start in a new environment with new people. Students get a chance to know what living on their own feels like and learn how to network with faculty and staff to establish connections for the future years at that institution.

Freshman year flies; it is full of general education classes, sometimes a few of year major classes, and students get the feel of how college operates. They start to understand what methods work for them and how to continue their path to graduation.

Once that sophomore year hits, the mindset for students starts to change. The eagerness begins to fade away  and students are excited to come back to school only to  get out the house for a couple of months.

Their schedules consist of prerequisites and more major classes. At this point students are starting to get unsettled in the foundations they established freshman year.

The methods that they discovered that works for them freshman year goes out the window and it becomes more of how can I finesse? Rather than how can retain? School gets overwhelming and extracurricular activities pile on top of that.

Junior year is more of the same but worse. Students are over school and still have their future to plan. Internships are now on the agenda, as well as master’s degree preparations for some.

Procrastination starts to spread like a virus and it becomes a norm because students know the work will get done because it has to, but that doesn’t determine whether they’ll start it at a reasonable time or not.

Senior year, senioritis settles in and all seniors are worried about is the ribbon at the finish line. Still finessing their way through classes, students are more worried about getting a good grade in classes rather than thoroughly retaining the information that is being dished out.

The mindset of a college student drastically changes throughout the duration of their college career. Employers and students may care about what their GPA looks like but how that result is obtained is a different story.