Welcome & Important Facts
Welcome to HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College and congratulations on furthering your education! If you are reading this text, you are on your way to success in college. Throughout our time in higher education, your authors have been able to witness and observe the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that students must employ to be successful. In this text, we will touch on the elements we believe are important to help you be the best college student you can be. In addition, many of the topics we cover will help you to thrive in the working world as well.
Did you know that the overall college undergraduate dropout rate in our country is 40%?1 This statistic means that on average, 40% of US college students who start college don’t finish. Because of statistics like this one, many colleges and universities have made “first-year seminar” courses mandatory for all new students. A first-year seminar (FYS) course ideally is taken during your first year of college, and the class orients you to the college and the skills necessary to be a successful college student. Students who take these courses are much more likely to stay and complete college. Staying or “persisting” and then completing college is why you are taking this course and why we created this text. We know when students are given the tools needed, they can persist and complete college.
Why is obtaining a college degree so important? In 2015, college graduates in the US made about 56% more than those with only a high school diploma.2 College graduates also have higher job security and lower unemployment rates. 65% of all jobs in the United States now require training beyond the high school years.3 With these statistics in mind, you easily can see the benefits afforded to you and your family when you obtain a college degree.
Now, let’s get started!
Show Up. Work Hard. Ask for Help.
Some years ago, we were walking around campus when we saw a poster taped to a door that really struck us. The poster was created by our Dean of Student Affairs at the time, David Satterlee. The poster had three simple statements:
At the time we saw the poster, we had been teaching college success courses for some time. We were struck by how almost everything we taught students about success in college could be broken down to these three simple statements. Let’s take some time to delve into these statements.
Show Up
Of course the most important part of “showing up” in college is attending class. Attending means being physically present with your in-person or remote classes or regularly logging in to your online courses. Showing up not only means a physical presence but also a mental presence and active engagement in the course. Have you ever been sitting in class but realized you zoned out and can’t remember one thing the instructor said for the last 20 minutes? Have you ever been watching a video for an online course and had to rewatch the video because you were scrolling through social media on your phone? When we do these things, we are not actively engaged or really “showing up.” Showing up means a commitment to be physically and mentally present while participating in our courses.
Work Hard
Working hard looks different for everyone. We need to ask ourselves “am I completing my course work to the best of my ability?” Working hard is about doing the best you can at all times. Many students waste time on distractions such as video games, social media, etc., and these distractions can contribute to procrastination. When we procrastinate, we typically do not produce our best work, and we cause ourselves unnecessary stress. In most cultures, college is a privilege and not a right. We need to treat each college course as an opportunity to learn something new and bring us closer to our educational goals, not as an obligation.
Ask for Help
In our United States society, sometimes we have the mistaken notion that asking for help is not a good thing. Some people see asking for help as a sign of weakness. We challenge you to rethink these thoughts. Asking for help is the sign of a strong person who is not afraid to admit they don’t know everything. None of us knows everything! Asking for help when we struggle or do not understand something is important in school, in the workplace and even in our personal relationships with others.
What does asking for help look like in college? A student fails a test and instead of blaming themselves or the instructor, the student seeks out free tutoring or help from an instructor during the instructor’s office hours. A student is undecided about their major and career selection and they are starting to feel frustrated so they seek help from one of the college’s career specialists. Asking for help is important. Make the commitment to always seek out help when you struggle with anything in college. HACC has many resources to help you, and you will learn about many of those resources during this course.
College Culture
Not all of us have had the same high school experiences. Some of you may have attended a traditional “brick and mortar” building, while others may have attended a cyber school. Some of you may still be attending high school and dual-enrolled in college, while others may have been out of high school for many years. No matter your current path, one thing remains the same for everyone: college is much different than high school.
In college, you are treated as an adult, and higher expectations will be placed on you. You will be expected to manage how you use time appropriately and complete all your work by the assigned deadlines. Being able to meet these expectations requires organization and good self (time) management plus motivation and self-ownership, constantly setting goals and taking the steps necessary to meet those goals.
PRO TIP:
One critical aspect of being a college student is learning to allocate workload. Upon receiving course syllabi, students should plan out the entire term, adding due dates to a calendar or planning that includes not just when assignments are due but also when work will be completed. That way, students are not in a position to sort out what to do on any given day: Just follow the checklist. This step is especially important for planning our research papers and other written assignments.
- Christine Nowik, English Department Chair
In college, you will often hear the term “syllabus.” A syllabus is essentially your contract for the course. The syllabus should explain the policies and procedures (attendance policy, grading policy, etc.) of the course, and students are responsible for being aware of all the items contained in the syllabus. A good practice is to read over your entire syllabus in the first week of each course.
Some of you may be taking online (virtual) courses, face-to-face courses, remote courses (with Zoom or similar software) or a combination of all of these modalities. Virtual courses at HACC differ from face-to-face courses in that they do not meet synchronously in a common physical location. Virtual classes are a great option for many students due to allowing a lot of scheduling flexibility. Students with full-time jobs and children may find online classes easier to fit into their schedules rather than having to come to a physical campus location. Online classes can be wonderful because they do allow for flexibility, but online classes also require more self-motivation as you do not have a physically-present reminder of expectations.
One of the biggest keys to being successful in college is communication between you and your instructors. When you do not understand something, when you have questions or when you miss class, you must communicate with the instructor. When you miss class, you are responsible for reaching out to the instructor to get the work you missed. We suggest when you miss class, reach out to your instructor as soon as possible to get the work you missed. This communication demonstrates to the instructor that you want to do well and you care about the course plus you may have the opportunity to make up work you missed so you stay on track - a win-win situation!
Professionalism in College
Professionalism in college means that you attend class, participate, stay organized, motivate yourself, ask for help when needed, communicate respectfully with your classmates and instructors and follow the class policies and procedures as outlined in the syllabus.
The number one way to be successful in college is to attend class. For in-person classes, professionalism means you physically are present at every class session. Most of us learn better when we are actively engaged in the course material which we cannot be when we miss class. For students in virtual classes, attendance means you log into the course regularly and make the course part of your daily routine. Students cannot be successful in online classes without regularly logging into the course. At midterm, we often can tell how much a student has been attending by looking at the midterm grade in the course. Attendance is the key to success.
Participating in your college courses is paramount to your success. With in-person classes, participating means you actively engage in the class plus ask and answer questions when appropriate. For your online classes, participation may mean actively participating in the class discussion board forums. When you participate, you get more out of the course, and learning is enhanced.
Regarding staying organized, you need to have a system. For your in-person classes, we recommend having a binder for each class. Binders make organization easy since you can store handouts, notebook paper, and graded assignments all in the same place. You also should have a planner or calendar so you can keep track of important dates, such as assignment due dates and exam dates (some tools will be explained in the Self-Management chapter). Many people use the calendar application on their phones which can be a great resource. Most calendar apps allow you to set reminder notifications that make staying on top of important deadlines much easier.
Motivation, which we will talk about in greater detail later in this text, is absolutely essential to doing well and completing college. Motivated students attend class, submit their best work, do not procrastinate, participate and ask for help when they struggle. Motivation is arguably one of the most important factors in college and life success.
During your time in college, you most likely will encounter a class in which you struggle. When this happens, you must be willing to ask for help in order to be successful. You can seek out help in several ways. One way is attending your instructor’s office hours or setting up an appointment with your instructor. After all, no one probably knows better how to help you in the class than the instructor teaching that class. Another way to get help is to attend free tutoring. HACC offers both free online and in-person tutoring depending on your needs, and more information will be provided in the Resources chapter.
Always communicate respectfully with your classmates and instructors. This communication expectation goes for in-class discussions and online discussion boards. When you email instructors, always be sure to include your name and the course in which you are enrolled. Many instructors teach multiple classes each semester and cannot help you unless they know to which course you are referring. Also important is using proper grammar and spelling when communicating via email.
Lastly, professionalism includes following the class policies and procedures as outlined in the syllabus. One of the most important policies to understand is the instructor’s policy on cell phone usage during in-person classes. Most instructors prefer that cell phones are put away and silenced during the class. Cell phones can be extremely distracting for you, your classmates and the instructor. You cannot learn in the class if you constantly are on your phone. You do yourself a disservice when you make your phone a priority over the instructor’s lesson.
References and Resources for Further Reading
Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2020) Recovery: Job growth and educational requirements through 2020. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/recovery-job-growth-and-education-requirements-through-2020/
Hanson, Melanie (2021, June 20). College dropout rates. Education Data. Education Data College Dropout Rates [educationdata.org]
National Center for Education Statistics. (2020). The condition of education. NCES. National Center for Education Statistics [nces.ed.gov]
1 National Center for Education Statistics. (2020). The condition of education. NCES. National Center for Education Statistics [nces.ed.gov]
2 Hanson, Melanie (2021, June 20). College dropout rates. Education Data. Education Data College Dropout Rates [educationdata.org]
3 Carnevale, A. P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2020) Recovery: Job growth and educational requirements through 2020. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce [cew.georgetown.edu]
