Obstacles of The Academic Environment

“Learn that defeat is an instructive as victory and is not the end of the world.” said William Zinsser. The vast majority of first-time college students will come across multiple academic barriers in their journey towards the academic success one desires. For example, students will come across many difficult professors with different teaching techniques, procrastination, and lastly one will face lack of motivation. In spite of the numerous obstacles that await to appear; there is a great number of solutions that will help contain the situation and move on.

When it comes to registering for classes, many FTCS (First Time College Students) do not do their research or even think about looking into who’s class they are registering for. This leads to having a specific teacher that unfortunately has insufficient teaching techniques. For example, you are able to identify an ineligible professors as soon as you are able to recognize the lack of professionalism and lack of commitment. Such as being late to class or even cancelling class a numerous amount of times. Which is an immense disadvantage that provokes the course schedule to fallback and can even lead to cramming the material itself.

Keep in the mind that the possibility of a professor even bringing their poor negativity into their work environment also stands. Once in this unfortunate situation there is only so many things students can do. Begin by starting new research and finding alternatives. For one students can start by transferring before the deadline, if the deadline has passed students are still able to but will end up with a ‘W’ (withdrawal) on their transcripts.

Keep in mind that too many ‘W’ will possibly affect ones transcript in the future if there are too many. In order to avoid withdrawals on your transcripts; another alternative would be to not give up. Pull through by remaining hopefully and adjusting to the techniques. However, if worst comes to worst you can either speak to your teacher about any concerns or even take it up to the department if necessary. A major setback for FTCS is procrastination. Procrastination is when one does not prioritize their school work, constantly delaying on their assignments and avoiding responsibility. Whether one realizes it in the moment or not procrastination will always create stress.

Keep an eye out on any habits that want to develop. It commences as a miniature pattern, eventually turning into an extremely bad habit. Such as telling yourself “I’ll have time later.” or “It’s not due for another week”. Therefore, one can only truly overcome procrastination by narrowing down the root of their problem; once knowing the problem, the solutions will be available. For example, lack of focus and poor time management. In order to avoid procrastination one needs to have a focused mindset. Focus allows one to start off strong and finish strong when studying their material. Having focus allows one to stay in the zone with no interruption which will allow students to complete the necessary, which also allows student to cover their material thoroughly. For starters make sure you are in a distraction free zone such as the library.

Another key factor for avoiding procrastination would be time management, which withholds a great deal of importance when it comes to completing school work. It is known and shown in the Fullerton College Catalog, 19 that for every 1-unit = 2-hour study rule. In order to be a full time student one must at least take 12 units; which requires at least 24 hours a week to study (12 units x 2 hours a week = 24 hours of study time). So managing your time goes a long way.

Begin by figuring out a time during the day that will best suits your schedule; especially one that you are able to stick to on a regular basis. In order to manage your time student must should use a calendar. Having a calendar provides a greater opportunity for success. Allowing students a better chance to be well organized. It allows students to briefly schedule out their academic responsibilities day by day for the entire semester, leading to a greater balance in their academic environment. With this setup students will gain the habit of going over their calendar every day, which will help them stay on track. This great habit helps avoid any setbacks or unwanted procrastination.

Throughout college it takes a great amount of motivation to balance and keep up with. Keeping balance in one's academic environment takes a great amount of motivation. Once students lack motivation, they will fear to take chances due to not having the motivation they need to pull through. Eventually it will lead to students finding themselves in this situation. Creating many doubts for them to overthink before they even begin trying. Every single student that walks on campus has their personal reasons for being there. Whether it is internal or even external every student has a specific motivation.

Lack of motivation can withhold huge barriers. In order to drive poor thoughts out of one's mind; students must always remind themselves why they started in the first place. We all have those days where we lose sight of our goals and do not want to do anything. For example, when one gains too much stress for any academic reason such as too much work. After a while it becomes too overwhelming to the point that one wonders and their minds clouds. Which will cause students to forget their reasons of why they even started, which creates major doubt in one's ability to succeed in the academic environment. When one loses motivation it prevents students from reaching their goals. However, taking chances is apart of living. Like Zinsser said himself “Not taking chances will lead to a life of colorless mediocrity. They’ll be controllable. But something in the spirit will be missing.” life is about taking chances regardless of the outcome. There will always be a lesson at the end of every situation. In order to jump back from ‘lack of motivation’ students should always remind themselves why they started in the first place.

Recognize what motivated them to even take a step into the academic environment. No matter the reason as long as it provides motivation, students should also visualize the future, the end results of succeeding/accomplishing one's goals and lastly surround themselves by supportive individuals who will lift them when they are down. College students should be open to finding the area that best suits their needs.Lastly, another academic barrier would be a poor study environment. Many college students may struggle with finding the right area to study. College Students are able to identify a poor study environment if you are not able to stay focus due to distractions, noise and even their surroundings. It is easy to get distracted in any kind of way; it is best to find a specific area where one is able to study without any interruption, which would lead them to having setbacks.

There are many locations to choose from; such as a library, a classroom, a cafe, and even in ones home (if the area is clear from interruptions).In conclusion, any FTCS face a numerous amount of barriers. As mentioned earlier in the text college students come across multiple different types of professors with different teaching techniques, procrastination, poor study environment and lack of motivation. Regardless of the many obstacles that appear in the academic environment; It is important for college student to be aware that there will always be a solution available. It is all a matter of finding the root of the problem and proceeding from there.

Works Cited:

1. Fullerton College Course Catalog: 2018-19. Fullerton College, 2018. Fullerton College, 12Sept. 2018, www.fullcoll.edu.
2. Scudder, Samuel H. “Take This Fish and Look at It.” Class Handout. Darren Chiang-Schultheiss, 2018, pp. 1-4.
3. Zinsser, William. “College Pressures.” Class Handout. Darren Chiang-Schultheiss, 2018, pp. 1-7.