Chapter 1

Transitioning to Greater Expectations: College Writing

IN THIS CHAPTER

Making college entrances

Busting myths about writing in college

Keeping a lookout for graduation

The signature activity of an educated person is reading books. Reading is the key to your college writing success and to seamlessly transitioning to college academics.

Congratulations on earning your college admission and your decision to read this book to improve your college writing, especially your essay writing. You've successfully fulfilled the requirements for 12 years of school, and you're entering a world that defies the math you've learned. Grade 12 isn't followed by Grade 13. It's followed by an opportunity to change your life and your family's life, and it begins with your first-year writing in college.

You can become one of almost a third of adults who earn college degrees. But capitalizing on that opportunity will require an academic commitment that exceeds your efforts in the past. Your immediate challenge requires conquering your Writing 101 essay course, a challenge that destroys the dreams of almost 40 percent of first-year students who never become sophomores.

In this chapter, I explain the demographics of students entering college today and the challenges they face transitioning from traditional and nontraditional venues. I also debunk myths associated with writing and college degrees. Turn the page and take one giant step toward your college degree.

Full Steam Ahead - Entering College

The call to college occurs at different times in people's lives. A fortunate majority begin college as teenage high school graduates; a few determined adults begin after a quarter century experiencing life, and a few eager lifetime learners begin after 60. Colleges are ready at the convenience of students. The limitations of learning are a lifespan.

Here's a look at demographics of students entering college today:

• 90 percent younger than 24
• 10 percent between 25 to 39
• 0.2 percent 55 years or older
• 5 percent international students, average age 25

The average age of undergraduates enrolled full time is 21, and the average of students enrolled part time is 27. In addition, almost half of college students enrolled are first-generation students, pursuing a goal to be the first in their families to earn a college degree.

Students enrolling in college today represent a variety of cultural, social, and economic backgrounds and a variety of purposes for earning a college education. Most entering students will participate in the most diverse population they'll have experienced in their lifetime. Classroom discussions will include ideas from people with diverse backgrounds and diverse thinking.

Your enthusiasm for learning will blend with the academic energy of other students as you immerse yourself in college life that includes the following:

• Discussing readings in the classroom
• Talking in small groups on campus about classroom topics
• Researching on wireless networks in indoor, outdoor, and remote spaces
• Celebrating academic accomplishments
• Planning leisure activities around tight schedules of classes, study, and part-time work

SUCCEEDING AS FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

Do you think of yourself as an educational trailblazer? Do you want to change direction of future generations of your family? Do you want to immediately influence the educational goals of siblings, nieces, and nephews?

First-generation college students, students of parents who haven't earned college degrees, represent almost half of all students enrolled in college today. They're the dream makers and risk-takers who are determined to be the first in their families to earn degrees and change the financial dynamics of future generations of their families. They can achieve for their families what the Wright brothers achieved for flight.

The demographics of first-generation students is likely to be Black or Hispanic, between ages 24 to 30, a parent of dependent children, and employed full time earning slightly above the poverty threshold. They're likely to enroll in a two-year community college, commute to classes, and take part-time classes.

In addition to their determination to be first, they possess the following assets to help earn their degrees: pride in their family's future, foresight to see financial advantages for future family members, confidence, and grit.

A majority of first-generation students are also firstborn and engrained with attributes such as leadership, responsibility, and initiative. They're achievers who meet deadlines. During the admission process, they face challenges such as inexperience with the college selection and application process and inexperience with the financial aid process.

As first-year students they face the challenges of unfamiliarity with academic language and lack of confidence to ask professors and advisors for help, feeling socially isolated on campus like they don't belong academically.

Recommendations for first-generation students include the following:

• Master the advisory-registration process for taking courses required to graduate.
• Learn technology for your course management platform and for navigating academic life.
• Familiarize yourself with resources on campus, especially those related to literacy.
• Participate in campus activities.
• Get familiar with library resources and services available through reference librarians.

Understanding What to Expect in Your College Writing Course

Your admission to college entitles you to a classroom seat - anywhere in the classroom you choose to sit. You'll also receive a syllabus - your last reminder of assignments due throughout the semester. A syllabus is a contract between you and your professor (I explain in greater detail in Chapter 2).

On your first day of college class, you'll recognize that you're no longer in high school and your class size is most likely smaller than high school. Take a look around the room, and you'll see unfamiliar people who feel equally uncomfortable. You may feel similar to how you felt the first day in first grade, but you now have your cellphone for security.

The following sections identify what practices from high school English you won't expect to happen in college writing, including a comparison to your college writing class. You can also find information about what your professor will (and won't) do.

Realizing you're not in your high school English class anymore

Here are practices common to your high school English class that you'll no longer experience in your college classroom:

• Daily reminders: Your high school teachers saw you daily and reminded you of upcoming assignments. Your college syllabus is your one-time reminder of everything due for the semester.
• Flexible deadlines: High school deadlines for essays, text, and projects are carved in sand. College deadlines indelibly recorded in your syllabus are changed as often as a harvest moon during leap year.
• Grading with pity points: College grades are based exclusively on academic performance with no consideration of how well you organized the community-wide blood drive or how many times you were student of the month.
• Five-days-a-week classes: College writing classes generally meet for 75 minutes twice a week, maybe 50 minutes three times a week. Your college study day begins after classes end.
• Class interruptions: You won't miss in-class announcements, calls to the office, late arrivals and early dismissals, assemblies, abbreviated schedules, and knocks on the door. Classes are the business of college, and the business is life-altering.
• Regular testing: High school tests provide numerous opportunities to stabilize grades and raise grades over a period of time. College courses commonly include three or four graded assignments, each one covering four times the content of your high school tests.
• Unaccountable readings: High school reading assignments frequently get lost in the wilderness and disappear from being required. College reading assignments have multiple lives, recurring in tests, writing assignments, class discussions, and final exams.

Table 1-1 compares some other areas so you can see how high school and college writing classes differ.

TABLE 1-1 Differentiating High School and College Writing

High School

College

Assignments

Essays and research papers

Essays, research papers, reaction papers, reports, reviews of literature, and media presentations

Discipline

Primarily English class

Across disciplines

Evidence

Opinions and limited research

Primary and secondary sources, surveys, and observations

Length

400 to 500 words

650 to 700 words

Revision

Submitted as one...