College Success Essay -- essays research papers

Skills That Are Important For College Success University Of Phoenix Gen 300 Skills For Professional Development   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in perspective. With college come the skills needed to be successful. Every student who enters into a college level program needs to bring some very useful skills with them. The first is the maturity to know that college isn’t high school and the discipline level needs to be higher. The classes on a college level are more demanding and require a whole laundry list of skills. To accompany maturity would be critical thinking skills. According to Keys to College Studying a Lifelong Learner chapter 4, â€Å"critical thinking is thinking that goes beyond the basic recall of information†. The college student needs to question why something is the way it is, this is the way we learn. A college student will get more out of a subject if they question it. Why does that reference need to be cited that way? How does that formula work and will it work if I use it in this manner? A high school student takes something a teacher tells them and for the most part doesn’t question it. A college student should apply his or her critical thinking skills and pull the concept apart. When we do this we learn so much more. Time management is a key skill for college students to master. A person who can manage their schedule and personal responsibilities effectively can make the most out of a college student’s most precious resource, time (Study Skills, USF 2005). Time management goes hand in hand with goal setting. In order to effectively manage your time you need to set short term and long term goals and then link those goals to your values (Keys to College Studying, Carter Bishop, and Kravits, 2002). After we set goals we need to prioritize them to make sure ... ...lement this process in my school work. Thinking through situations instead of rushing in to finish quickly is part of my plan. I need to be more methodical at how I approach my school work and I need to be more disciplined. Discipline is probably my biggest culprit when it comes to school work. I love to procrastinate and cut corners if I can; anything to get things done faster. What I need to do is become more disciplined with my time management and if I do that I will have better control of my time. Once I have better control of my time I can start making more time for the readings that I procrastinate on. I value the college education that I am getting and I try not to take for it for granted. With the rising cost of education in this country and the importance that employers are placing on education. I plan to continue honing the skills I have learned and I hope to learn new ones to make my education that much more enjoyable. The best way I can implement my plan is to become more disciplined with the way I do it. In the future I can only hope that my son sees the value in a good education and is disciplined enough to see it through to a degree.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚