By Leslie Hemenway

lhemenway@statenews.com

I know this is a major cliche, especially for a college freshman, but I absolutely love college — the freedom, the independence — almost everything has exceeded my expectations. These past two months, which seemed to fly by at an alarming rate, were some of the best times I’ve ever experienced.

However, I can say with full confidence I was incredibly unprepared for college. Now that I’ve been here for a while, I would say I’m pretty much adjusted to college life, though the road to get here was full of trials and errors. While it’s unfair to pin all the blame onto a single factor, I think high school really failed at preparing me for college.

I know by the time students hit college, high school is merely a faint memory and completely irrelevant. It’s important, though, to recognize the flaws within the high school system so it can be improved for generations to come.

There are a lot of ways in which high school can better prepare students for college.

For one, the students should be treated like the adults they’re becoming. It’s really ludicrous when you think about it — high school seniors are expected to ask for permission to use the restroom or get a drink and then, a mere few months later, to be able to live on their own. That doesn’t make much sense at all.

Also, the courses required to graduate high school should be more applicable to the general student body. For example, at most, if not all, high schools students are required to take chemistry to graduate. I took chemistry my junior year of high school and couldn’t tell you a single time I’ve ever used anything I learned in that class. Honestly, I don’t even remember anything from that class.

Instead of mandating courses most students won’t need, there should be classes that teach things such as how to live with a stranger, how to adjust to living on your own, how to create an amazing resume, etc. Those are all things everyone will need to know for college, regardless of what they’re majoring in.

When teenagers complain about high school, it’s mostly chalked up to teenage angst. While that’s definitely a contributing factor, there is some validity to their claims. High school does, at best, a subpar job preparing students for college and the “real world.” Sure, there are things students can do to counteract that, such as taking AP courses or getting a job. However, they can only do so much. A lot of what’s wrong lies within the system, and they can’t change that.

At the end of the day, the purpose of high school is to equip students with what they need to thrive in college, and that’s not really being accomplished.