The Truth about…College

College is a great place. You get to experience new things, meet new people and get a taste of freedom as you make your way into the world.

However sometimes college life is more hyped-up than what it actually is. Here are some common misconceptions about college.

1       You do not need to study:

For some reason we think the Leaving Cert is the end of all your studying and revising, it isn’t. Although you’ll be doing the subjects you pick in college, it doesn’t mean you won’t have to study for them. Once Christmas exams and the possibility of failure comes around you will definitely realise this.

2       You can go out every night of the week:

No, unless you are Bill Gates or Richard Branson. Students are known to go out but to do it 3 or 4 times a week is not feasible. When you have to make that choice between going out or buying groceries for the week, I’d stick with the groceries.

3      Lecturers aren’t like teachers:

I was actually worried that I would do no work and the lecturer wouldn’t care. However the lecturers actually do care (this can be a good thing too!) They are mostly very open and friendly and there is numerous support services in universities to help students who are experiencing a tough time.

4       Reading is not work:

In secondary school I never actually counted reading as work but as it turns out, a lot of the work in college is reading. I got a big shock with this when we were given an exam which mainly consisted of readings and not lecture slides.