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According to the New York Times over 66% of kids go to college.

One of the things you are told throughout high school is that high school will prepare you for your future. However, nothing can truly prevent an 18-year old for the first semester of college, which is why the BluePrint asked five different graduates of Bellwood-Antis, all freshmen who have just completed their first post-secondary semester, the advice they would give to incoming freshmen in their shoes. The students we asked were Jordan McCrcken, Jarrett Taneyhill, Sawyer Kline, Ethan McGee and Allison McCaulley.

Learn time management

Jordan McCracken is now attending Indiana University of Pennsylvania and is going to play baseball for his school. Jordan said that it is nothing like high school.

“You have 2-3 classes a day and you have a break in between all those classes, but you’re usually done with class around 1 o’clock and then you go back to your dorm to do work. The professors rarely give out homework and your college grade is based on quizzes and big exams. You don’t know anybody that you go to school with you, so you have to make new friends and your classes are all in different places so you’re not stuck in one building the whole day. You have a lot more free time on your hands and you really have to learn time management in college.”

Be prepared to have to study

Jarrett Taneyhill  a student at Lehigh University. A three-sport star when he was at B-A, he will be throwing javelin in track and field.

“I would say the biggest thing I learned from this semester is how to study better. In high school, I never really studied that much and I quickly learned that I needed to in college. I also realized that I had absolutely no idea how to actually study properly. Thanks to my friends and teammates I was able to get it down and now I’m hoping for a great second semester.”

Understand how to handle freedom

Sawyer Kline was a jack of all trades at Bellwood-Antis, starring in two sports while make the popular Dudes on Foods line of videos for the BluePrint.

“Basically you have a ton of freedom compared to high school. Your professors view you as responsible adults and it shows in the learning environment. With that free time, you need to keep up your work ethic and time management. You need to keep a calendar and keep up on assignments more then what you would need to in high school. There is no homeroom to do your English anymore.”

Find a balance

Ethan McGee is a freshman at Juniata Collage playing on the football team. He was an award-winning sports writer for the BluePrint while at Bellwood-Antis.

“Figure out a good schedule you can work from to effectively get your school work done, study, get extra help when you need it, but find a balance to have personal time so you aren’t overloading yourself with just classes. Finding something outside of classes is just as important to give yourself a break from the stress you school work can compile to,” said Ethan.

Break it into pieces

Allison McCaulley is attending Mount Aloysius to become a teacher. She was an award-winning speaker at Bellwood-Antis.

“The biggest thing I have learned is time management! Learning to break big assignment down, complete them piece by piece, and organize it all so I didn’t have to do it all in one night was so helpful.”