My College Success Paper

Name Course number Instructor’s name Date My College Success Paper College success involves learning how to make important decisions about my life and career. This entails making decisions about improving my study habits, psychosocial and soft skills such as awareness of others’ emotions, and improved time management skills. College success means changing my personal attitudes and habits to better take control my academic performance and overall achievement. Overall achievement in areas such as self-awareness, interest in lifelong learning, emotional intelligence, and belief in self and positive engagement in college are essential indicators of my college success (Balduf, 2009). My understanding of success in college extends beyond mere academic achievement to include competence in psychosocial aspects. It is reported that traditional predictors of academic performance in college such as measures of verbal and mathematical abilities (Scholastic Aptitude Test -SAT) and academic achievement (high school GPA) only account for less than 25% of the variance in college performance. This leaves a considerable variance unexplained (Currie, Pisarik, Ginter, Glauser, Hayes, & Smit, 2012). However, researchers have found life skills aspects such as a sense of identity and maturity, time management and greater social support to be associated with experiencing fewer academic difficulties and higher cumulative GPA. Additionally, untreated stress has been associated with lower overall academic adjustment and GPA (Ginter & Glauser, 2010). I am here to develop skills and knowledge in my chosen field, which shall prepare me for the labor market as either an employee or an employer. I hope to attain three forms of development namely, cognitive development, and academic skills development and psychosocial development. In terms of cognitive development, I seek to shift from thinking that there is one right answer to developing my own questions, to possess disciplinary literacy, including vocabulary and background knowledge, to develop problem-solving and critical/ analytical abilities to enable engaging in difficult tasks, difficult ideas and sustained projects. In terms of academic skills development, I seek to develop strong research and library skills and a solid understanding of preventing plagiarism, to know and meet expectations for assignments, papers, exams, attendance and participation and to communicate well. I also seek to have mastered good study skills, financial management and time management as well as how to work together with peers on group projects and form study groups (Newton & Vogt, 2008). In terms of psychosocial development, I seek to be a participant and not a recipient of learning. To develop a self-understanding of own emotional, social and academic needs, to ask for help and not be afraid to ask questions and to know and meet expectations for social/ interpersonal behavior in collegiate settings by exhibiting patterns of good behavio...