Letter
Dear future College One student,
“Intelligence is cultivated through effort and education.”
My name is Aline Bedrossian, and I am a current student of Pasadena City College, and I am enrolled in College One. I learned many things throughout my academic journey, and I would like to share them with you. I graduated from Peninsula High School in San Bruno, CA in 2008. I first arrived to the United States of America in 1994 from Beirut, Lebanon. Since I did not know the English language when I first arrived, I struggled throughout my first year living in a foreign country. The lack of communication skills presented a problem, both socially and academically. Through hard work and dedication, I learned the English language, and began to speak it fluently. The change from high school to college was a tremendous one, as I did not know what to expect. I was used to the regimented life of high school classes, and was not familiar with the freedom and flexibility that the college education system presented. While teachers were very involved in high school, the responsibility of earning the education and completing the work fell solely on me in college. The safety net of the public education system was gone, and I had to rely on myself to earn a good grade, and to succeed in my classes. I did not necessarily think about my future while in high school, but it dawned on my that college was not the place to slack off. Every class I enrolled in brought me one step closer to my future, and I strive to succeed in every one of my endeavors, both academically and personally. The most challenging aspect of going to college was working 50 hours a week, while attending classes as well. A delicate balance was needed between school and work, and it was not always easy to accommodate the two. The advice I would like to pass on to you would be to establish a reading process, including annotating text and understanding context, developing a variety of study skills to adapt to different assignment and projects, and most importantly, to have time management. Procrastinating is the single most dangerous aspect in education, and it would behoove you to set time aside to complete assignments and study for exams. This will benefit you more than any other skill during your academic journey. Five resources I would recommend include the Shatford Library on campus, which houses many different study rooms, texts, and computer labs, JSTOR, which is a digital library of academic journals and books, personally knowing your professors, which includes taking advantage of their office hours, asking for the help of various tutors throughout campus, and ratemyprofessors.com, which will allow you to see which professors fit your style of learning. I wish you nothing but the best in your academic future, and I hope I helped!
“Look for a strong beginning and a strong ending, and get moving.”
Good luck!
Aline Bedrossian
“Intelligence is cultivated through effort and education.”
My name is Aline Bedrossian, and I am a current student of Pasadena City College, and I am enrolled in College One. I learned many things throughout my academic journey, and I would like to share them with you. I graduated from Peninsula High School in San Bruno, CA in 2008. I first arrived to the United States of America in 1994 from Beirut, Lebanon. Since I did not know the English language when I first arrived, I struggled throughout my first year living in a foreign country. The lack of communication skills presented a problem, both socially and academically. Through hard work and dedication, I learned the English language, and began to speak it fluently. The change from high school to college was a tremendous one, as I did not know what to expect. I was used to the regimented life of high school classes, and was not familiar with the freedom and flexibility that the college education system presented. While teachers were very involved in high school, the responsibility of earning the education and completing the work fell solely on me in college. The safety net of the public education system was gone, and I had to rely on myself to earn a good grade, and to succeed in my classes. I did not necessarily think about my future while in high school, but it dawned on my that college was not the place to slack off. Every class I enrolled in brought me one step closer to my future, and I strive to succeed in every one of my endeavors, both academically and personally. The most challenging aspect of going to college was working 50 hours a week, while attending classes as well. A delicate balance was needed between school and work, and it was not always easy to accommodate the two. The advice I would like to pass on to you would be to establish a reading process, including annotating text and understanding context, developing a variety of study skills to adapt to different assignment and projects, and most importantly, to have time management. Procrastinating is the single most dangerous aspect in education, and it would behoove you to set time aside to complete assignments and study for exams. This will benefit you more than any other skill during your academic journey. Five resources I would recommend include the Shatford Library on campus, which houses many different study rooms, texts, and computer labs, JSTOR, which is a digital library of academic journals and books, personally knowing your professors, which includes taking advantage of their office hours, asking for the help of various tutors throughout campus, and ratemyprofessors.com, which will allow you to see which professors fit your style of learning. I wish you nothing but the best in your academic future, and I hope I helped!
“Look for a strong beginning and a strong ending, and get moving.”
Good luck!
Aline Bedrossian