Personal Statement: Why I Prepared For College

One of the most difficult tasks to complete is the chore of studying. It takes a lot of motivation and time to read all the material for every class, not to mention learning all that information, sometimes on things you don’t necessarily want to be studying. When was a child, I used to think that I already knew it all. No book or teacher was going to help me learn what I didn’t already know. Unfortunately, I was sadly mistaken. There is so much to learn, but I couldn’t fathom why I wouldn’t retain all that was taught in class. So many thoughts hounding me. Are you prepared for college? Do you even know how to study? Is what you’re doing now effective? For some, studying may come easy. There’s nothing you’d rather be doing than reading. For

Here many teachers would probably object that it is not their job to teach students how to learn. But then what do we need to be prepared for? McGuire quotes a math major from LSU, “People told me that college was going to require a lot more of my time and effort, but I didn’t believe then because I had heard it before. They said that high school was going to be a lot more difficult then middle school, but it wasn’t. And when I went to middle school, they told me it was going to be much harder than elementary school. But I didn’t find that at all” (McGuire 12). I wholeheartedly endorse what McGuire calls top priority, which is student learning. She goes on to state that if students are actively engaged in the learning process they will be able to learn even in circumstances where the teaching is mediocre (McGuire 10). So why don’t teachers take the time to teach us to learn? McGuire observes that teachers genuinely believe that they are preparing their students (McGuire 11). But many college students would certainly take an issue with the argument that they are prepared for

Not surprisingly, I learned a new word that I had never heard before. My college English teacher gave a lecture on metacognitive strategies, or metacognition. Immediately, a light went on. I began to wonder, could this be my break through? As I listened intensely I wanted to know everything there was to learn about metacognition. What do researchers say about metacognitive strategies? Saundra Yancy McGuire advocates the benefits of metacognitive strategies. In her book, Teach Students How to Learn, McGuire writes that “It’s like you have a big brain on the outside of your brain looking at what your brain is doing” (McGuire 16). In other words, McGuire believes that you become consciously aware of yourself as a problem solver, which enables you to actively seek solutions to any problems you may encounter, rather than relying on others to tell you what to do or answer your questions (McGuire