Transition to college presents challenges

By: AGNES DIGGS - Staff Writer | Saturday, October 1, 2005 11:13 PM PDT ∞

What is college like? Do you go to a lot of parties? How is the financial aid and how does it work? What benefits do you get from going to college?

Just some of the questions that high school seniors and college freshmen ask Nadia Dayzie, 18, a MiraCosta College student ambassador from the Office of School Relations/Diversity Outreach.

The ambassadors visit local schools, meet with interested students and give them firsthand information about the college experience in terms they can relate to, since they are students, too, said coordinator Jan Moberly. The group of student leaders, who represent different ages and ethnicities, helps students apply to college and enroll in classes.

Without help, the transition from the structured environment of high school can be so rocky as to cause many students to crash and burn on the road to higher learning before completing their degrees.

"Although we have made significant advances in high school graduation rates, improvement is still needed in our college retention rates," a recent ACT report on the subject stated. And it added, based on a 2004 report from the Education Commission of the States, that "while getting students into college is important, retaining and helping them complete their degree work in no more than five or six years is just as vital to the economic and social health of the nation."

This is Dayzie's first year with the program. A graduate of Ocean Shores High School, she said she plans to major in psychology. Dayzie, who lives in Oceanside, is the third oldest of five children, oldest daughter of a black mother and Navajo father. Her grandfather served as a Navajo Code Talker, inspiring his son to serve in the U.S. Marines and Dayzie to rise to the rank of cadet gunnery sergeant in ROTC.

"All my motivation comes from my roots, my parents," Dayzie said.

She joined the ambassador program to help and inspire others as they make the difficult transition from high school to college, she said.

As for her own freshman experience, well, things hadn't turned out exactly as she had imagined. It was a big step for a frustrated student coming out of high school wondering, "Do I have what it takes to go to college? What do I need to do to go to college?" she recalled.

"I was scared to death," she said. "I didn't know what to expect. My stereotype of college was what I saw on TV ---- the professors all uptight. How are they going to react to me? Are they going to be mean? But when I got here, I found the professors want to help you."

Part of the problem for freshmen is that they enter college with only vague notions of what to expect, and are sometimes unprepared for the unsupervised atmosphere.

"There's times when you don't want to go to class, but you're paying for your education, so that's self-motivation to attend your class," Dayzie said. "You're here to do something ---- to get a degree. There's students here that are in the same pothole. You have the common goal to make life better so you can help each other."

Experts say students must adjust to the fact that the student body, the class requirements and teachers are far different from high school.

Oceanside resident Gricelda Alva, 19, recently began her sophomore year at Cal State San Marcos, but she remembers well what her freshman transition was like, she said. It took a little while to absorb the fact that she was now in charge of her academic life.

"When I came here, it was going to be up to me to manage my time," she said. "It was hard. I felt like I had so much time and I could procrastinate."

Not so. Reality soon set in, and she quickly began to use time-management skills learned in high school, setting up an organizer to keep track of important things such as test dates and to establish priorities.

Alva had the advantage of participating in both the Advancement Via Individual Determination program which teaches time-management and leadership skills.

But the first day of college still loomed large at the time, and the theory was only a shadow of her actual experience.

"At first I felt afraid," she said. "Because the classes are harder than in high school. There was so much work I had to do ---- so much reading ---- and projects. And they give it to you today, and it's due tomorrow."

She was also intimidated by the professors. "They seemed so harsh. But if you do what they ask you to do, it's all right."

The pace, the workload and the amount of reading and note-taking took her by surprise, she said. "I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up in the lectures."

Although it's more free-form in structure, college is more disciplined than high school, she said.

Based on her own experience and looking back from the vantage point of having survived that first crucial year, Alva had a few helpful hints for other students who hope to achieve their college goals.

"Apply for scholarships in your free time," she said. "No matter how small. Talk to your career counselor and find the ones you're qualified for."

Biology major Karina Gonzalez, 19, who graduated from San Maros High School, is thrilled with the opportunity that came her way in this her sophomore year at Cal State San Marcos. She wants to do research in hopes of discovering a cure for diabetes or cancer. One wish came true for her: She's doing independent study this year, working twice a week with her professor in the lab "because his work is interesting. He's doing a form of genetic research," she said.

Gonzalez was chosen for both the summer academy of Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) to the Challenge Program, which helps underrepresented students succeed in college, pursue a biomedical research career and a Ph.D.; and the College Assistance Migrant Program which provides financial an academic support for students from migrant and seasonal farmworker backgrounds to help them make a successful transition into college.

Still, her freshman year was a little scary, she said, because she didn't have a lot of friends and she worried about what to expect from her classes.

"I felt prepared. I was just scared," she said. Gonzalez had also participated in the AVID program in high school, so she at least had an idea what to expect. "I knew that the teachers weren't going to be telling me all the time to do my homework," she said.

One thing she wishes she had known from the outset was not to cram for tests.

"It was something that I knew, but I thought it wasn't such a big deal," she said. "But it was."

Learning to work with her professors was also crucial. "Even if they tell you something small, take their advice seriously," she said. "Do whatever the professors tell you to do. If you don't, you can expect bad grades and staying up all night trying to figure out what's going on before the test."

She soon made friends with other freshmen, who were as scared as she was, she said. "I think it's important to have friends because they encourage you to do well in classes. And it's also important in study groups."

Her advice to those whose goal is college is to join clubs when they first get to campus so they can make friends and help each other in classes. And, she added, "keep learning and keep working."

The Ambassador program at MiraCosta is designed to help students who didn't have the advantage of preparatory programs such as AVID. The students are interviewed, hired, and trained during the summer to prepare for the fall semester, according to information provided by coordinator Jan Moberly. The program has a budget that covers all payroll and training costs.

Dayzie joined the group with the same focus with which she learned Brazilian jujitsu, judo, karate and boxing, she said. Her goal is to help those who cross her path, siblings and strangers, to be all they can be.

"We will be the teachers later," she said. "And we have to be ready for everything, because we're going to be the next generation taking care of the parents. So whatever opportunity there is to get an education, we must take it."

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.

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