Every year, top high school learners choke in their first year at university while average students excel. First-years can learn a lot from the reasons behind this.
University is very different to high school. Many of the skills and beliefs of exceptional matric students don’t translate well into university. While not all “A” students have these characteristics, there are common issues that come from getting consistently good grades. I have been told this by high school teachers, as well as university lecturers, for different reasons. What I am describing are some common habits and beliefs I noticed in top students in high school and why they didn’t work in university. So pay attention, whether you are one of these high performers or someone who had to work hard for their 60% average.
1. “A” students don’t ask for help.
High school students who score in the 80% bracket often think that excellence is about being able to do everything yourself. Asking a question is seen as a sign of ignorance, and many high performers are terrified of appearing stupid. Especially to teachers.
In university, thinking you can do everything yourself is a recipe for disaster. Maintaining contact with your lecturers is integral to your success, and so is asking questions. How can you know if your research is on the right path unless you are communicating with your lecturers? How will you know where or how you can improve?
University isn’t like high-school, where you are a child and your teacher is a grown up. You and your lecturers are both, for the most part, adults. They are interested in your feedback and take your questions seriously because they know how important communication and asking questions are in university.
2. “A” students cannot cope with failure.
It’s not that doing well puts them in a bad position. It’s that never doing badly leaves them unequipped to learn from failure. “A” students see a 40% as something personal, and haven’t learned how to recover properly. “B” and ”C” students have been exposed to bad marks, and have learnt how to deal with them positively.
No matter how successful you were in high school, you will find university difficult. You will get low marks at times, and it’s important to cope with this in a positive and productive way. “B” and “C” students know that failing isn’t the end of the world and that it doesn’t mean you can’t do better next time. This means they can let go of their bad marks and focus on the next opportunity to succeed.
University will expose you to work, assessments and schedules that are unfamiliar, and you are bound to struggle while adapting to this life. Being able to cope with failure is a skill you will need to succeed in the long-term, which is what really matters.
3. “A” students know how to work hard, but do not how to struggle.
Let me explain.
“A” students in high school worked hard to get their good marks, but most of them didn’t find working hard to be difficult. I consistently got “A’s” for English, History and Drama in high school. Although I worked harder than other students, I didn’t struggle as much as they did to achieve their 60% and 70%. For Maths, however, scraping by with 50% took immense effort on my part. Which experience do you think better prepared me for the challenges of university?
You will get a 40% at some point in first year. You need to learn how to turn this into a 60%. This is very different to (and more difficult than) maintaining 70%. This is something “B” and “C” students are better at than “A” students, and something that will be very important for your success in university.
So, what have we learnt?
- Ask for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness or ignorance. Get to know your lecturers, keep in contact with them and ask for guidance when you need it.
- Understand how to manage failure successfully. Accept that failure is not personal and learn how to manage it positively so that you can succeed in the long-term.
- Learn how to struggle. Practice things you are not good at and learn how to improve on things that do not come easily to you.
FundiConnect 2cents
‘Develop a work ethic’ is not very useful advice for students who don’t know what that is or how to do it. Rather, learn how to motivate yourself to work a little bit everyday. Keep all your work in one book or computer file. Treat it like a personal diary that tracks your development as a writer, an engineer, a vet or an entrepreneur. Every addition to this work diary develops and grows you into the professional you want to be.
When you can see the link between your schoolwork and your aspirations, what you do and who you want to be, being productive becomes a personal goal. Your schoolwork goes from being a series of disconnected and impersonal assignments to the building blocks of your personal education.
