No notes during tests. Don’t be late. You can’t miss class. There are no exceptions to late assignments. Professors don’t care.
Our high school teachers instilled these rules in us as they prepared us for college. What they didn’t know was that college professors aren’t as strict on these rules as people may think.
This is the biggest lie I was told throughout high school: “When you go to college, you will never be allowed to use your notes, so why should I let you use notes now?” Every class that I have been enrolled in so far in college has allowed the use of some form of notes during tests. This could be a notecard, a full sheet of paper or access to all handwritten notes.
In the real world, we do have access to our notes or websites, and I think college professors understand that; so why don’t high school teachers? Especially when most subjects in high school don’t pertain to what you might want to major in, why do we have to memorize every formula or concept if we truly don’t need it?
The second biggest lie I was told was to never be late to class unless you have a pass for being late. Our high school teachers made it sound like if you were going to be late to a college class, you would not be able to actually get in.
College professors are more understanding than our high school teachers made them out to be. They understand that we have other classes or that transportation can get in the way, and they allow us to come in late. Of course, they prefer us to be present during the entire lecture, but they also understand that life gets in the way.
The third lie I was told about going to college was about late work. High school teachers can be adamant about making sure every student turns in assigned work on time. They stress that college professors will be stricter and won’t accept any late work.
This cannot be stressed enough: professors understand that, again, life happens and if you communicate with your professors, they can help you make a plan to turn in an assignment. They typically drop lowest scores at the end of the semester to help accommodate for the times when you can’t finish an assignment.
The fourth and most important lie I was told is that professors don’t care. They don’t care if you are late, they don’t care if you show up to class, they don’t care whether you do your homework. In case you didn’t know, they care about our education and want us to succeed.
Professors designate their time to lecture and expect us to attend the lectures, especially because you are paying for it. They strive to educate us and want us to learn from them and gain something from their class. Professors do care.
One final thought: Not all high school students go to college, so high school teachers should not just be warning students of the implications of being late in college – lateness affects our professional and personal lives, too. High school teachers should have given us advice applicable to all our futures, not only to those who are collegebound.
Why do high school teachers tell us these things and expect us to have that mindset going into college? It ends up a waste, because they are all lies.
