With college, work and other extracurricular activities occupying a college student’s life, it’s not hard to imagine that juggling the three would end up making life complicated.
The complication with finding time for all three has led to a dilemma for many students.
Instead of attending EC for the standard two years before graduating or transferring to a university, EC has become a four-year school of its own for many students struggling with the workload.
One method many students juggling work with school use to avoid getting behind in their studies is to spread their responsibilities throughout the day
Many students will work during the day and then come take classes at night.
Often times, the campus at night is more populated than the campus is during the day.
It’s not the easiest thing in the world to jump from working seven to eight hours during the day to sitting in a classroom listening to a lecture all night.
It is, however, an effective way to make sure a student is able to keep all the responsibilities in order.
The problem, however, isn’t always just outside influences taking control of students’ lives.
For many, it is just studying, or a lack thereof, that causes the delay in transfer or graduation.
When new students enter EC, they take a placement test; if a student tests into a beginner-level math or English class, it will only prolong the amount of time spent at EC before they work their way through the required list of classes in that subject.
In many cases, it is just the indecisiveness of students that make their stay longer than it needs to be.
Many students begin at EC without having any idea of what they want to do in the future.
Consequently, they end up floating along for semesters, either changing their major or just flat out being unable to decide on one to stick with.
By the time these students do end up deciding on a major, they often end up looking back on their college careers and realize they’ve wasted a year or more on campus because they couldn’t decide on their major.
Rather than falling into the same trap of wasting semesters before deciding on what to major in, new students should take the initiative and seek help in deciding what they want to major in.
Instead of finding themselves in a similar situation, these students should seek the guidance of an academic counselor as soon as possible.
The counselor will sit down with the students, figure out their interests and help them to choose a major that best suits them.
Other options are at the Career and Transfer Center, the job fairs and the university information programs that often take place.
This way, students will have a direct academic path, and will make the most of their time at EC.
