by Leah Ash, Culture Editor

The transition from high school academics to the world of college academics can be daunting. Exams are harder, papers are longer, and assignments tend to take a lot more coffee to get through and finish. Everyone has struggled with the change at some point during their first semester at school. Not only that, many students find that their high school study strategies do not work for them in college academics. Aquinas has many resources to make school a little easier, but some experts offered advice to make the transition easier to bear. 

Carley Cruse and Noah Dennie, both Writing Center consultants, said that a piece of advice that they would give themselves as freshmen would be to focus on time management. 

“Get a planner, and use it,” said Cruse. Dennie added on, saying “Take the time to plan out your day. When are you studying, what are you working on, and stick to it.” 

Aquinas College President Kevin Quinn offered advice of his own to the incoming freshman class.

“Go to class,” Quinn said, “No matter how tired you are or unmotivated you feel, faithful class attendance is by far the highest valued thing you can do for a successful college career.”

Taking care of yourself is a priority and staying healthy is another necessary method in staying on top of your grades. Concentrating on only three hours of sleep is very difficult to do and remembering anything you studied will be difficult. 

Sara Haviland, Assistant Director of the Center for Opportunities, Resources, and Excellence (CORE), had plenty of advice for incoming freshmen. 

“They should follow my Instagram page (@aq.core.studytables),” Haviland said, “I keep them updated on everything they need to know to stay on track to graduate.”

This includes information about adding or dropping classes, study tables information, and exam schedules. Sara Haviland also wanted to remind freshmen that “college is more focused on studying rather than giving homework. Major assignments tend to be due at the same time, so figure out what weeks are your busy weeks so you can prepare.” 

There is no such thing as being too prepared when it comes to studying.