What they didn't learn in high school

Now in college, recent graduates wish their schools had taught effective study, and time-management skills. Teachers should have pushed them harder to achieve, they say.
by Rachel Abbey April, 2008

Jerome Jemison

2004 graduate, Cleveland Metropolitan School District
What he didn't learn: How to manage time effectively
How to be responsible for his own learning
Age: 21
High school: Martin Luther King Jr., designated "continuous improvement" by the Ohio Department of Education 2006-07;
Graduation Rate: 48.4 percent 2005-06
- 89.4 percent African American
- 8.8 percent Hispanic
- 100 percent low-income
First generation college: Yes. Jemison's parents dropped out around eighth grade. They definitely proud of his accomplishments, but most of the encouragement to go to college came from his grandmother, he says.
College: Cleveland State, a public, four-year university, about 10,000 undergraduates; accepts about 73 percent of applicants.
Current college GPA: 2.3;
High school GPA: 3.2
Major: Finance
Minor: Business management.

Jemison learned about the value of having a minor from the higher-ups at Parker Hannifin Corporation, where he is interning as a finance assistant. They told him a minor would make him more marketable to future employees.

Scheduled graduation date: Spring 2009

First generation college student Jerome Jemison wasn't sure what to expect when he got to college, but he made sure in high school that he'd have plenty of support. He signed up for the LINK and TRIO programs at Cleveland State, which help students find resources they need to succeed once they are enrolled in college. The groups, which recruit students still in high school, meet to discuss challenges such as where to find tutoring and how to balance schedules.

Freshmen year, what was your biggest academic challenge?
"It's basically up to you," Jemison says. "That's a big step."

In high school, Jemison says he never really had to study, but still got nearly all As in his best classes-mathematics. Love of math led him to the field of finance; but his lack of study skills nearly cost him the major. He had to cut back on a lot of social activities, Jemison says, and put more focused time and energy on his studies. Balancing about four classes and a job each semester is harder than he thought it would be, and learning how to make time to study has been vital.

After class, Jemison takes himself "out of the picture," he says, to read through the day's lesson and take notes on the chapter. Later, he meets with classmates to discuss what they thought was most important and work through anything they did not understand.

What do you wish your high school teachers had done to better prepare you for college?

 Advanced English and math teachers at Martin Luther King did a good job of teaching Jemison how to take notes and what to look for when studying for an exam, he recalls. But if he had it to do over again, Jemison says he would take advantage of the post-secondary classes offered at King, which would have given him a jump-start on college credits.

"You can [enter] college and already be a sophomore," he says, referring to programs such as Early College, which allow high school students to take college courses.

He also wishes teachers would give students more responsibility at a younger age, rather than holding students' hands all through high school, he says. College is very independent, and it would help students to prepare for that if teachers gave more open-ended assignments, Jemison says, instead of telling them exactly what to do to complete a project.