Quarantined high school students are experiencing a college readiness bootcamp in their own homes.

‘I feel that the online courses that we have been taking has prepared me for college by exposing me to methods that could be used in the future,” said sophomore Annelise Swiggum.

Having a proper workspace for school work and going outside more is what Swiggum felt she wouldn’t have gotten much of a chance to do if she wasn’t doing online schooling. Having a proper workspace and going outside often are two things Swiggum will do to help her while in college.

“I do feel like online schooling has prepared me for college because it gets me more used to doing stuff in my own time and not just during school,” said sophomore Nathan Marecek.

Having time to practice time management would have been harder for Marecek to do while busy in school and activities after school, but now with online he has had time to practice that more. He says he will definitely use time management and other similar strategies for when he goes to college.

“Many students have a very structured life while in high-school and find it a challenge to organize their time and schedules in college,” said University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire mental health counselor Paula Chiara.

Chiara said that It is important for students in high school to start exercising some independence in planning their day or week. High school students now are experiencing more independence after going to online schooling and need to advocate for themselves and get contact with their teachers.

“I encourage all my students to be honest about their difficulties and obstacles with professors and ask them for guidance and feedback,” said Chiara.

Taking advantage of office hours and email communication with your teachers is a great thing to do in any schooling grade level. Now that students are online they are able to practice communicating with their teachers online just like in college. Finding your studying strategies is an important goal for your college readiness and Chiara says finding what learning style you are is important, too.

“During high-school it’s a good time to explore your learning style and what you need to succeed,” said Chiara.

Ask yourself questions to help figure what is best for you for your personal studying strategies. Question what your learning style is (visual, tactical, auditory) or figure out how many breaks you need so you can set up a schedule. She also said that learning how to prioritize information is very important for college. Students are now experiencing a time when having sharp studying strategies are crucial with their current independent learning. Having self-knowledge is important Chiara said.

“The more you know yourself and identify your needs the sooner you can start working to have those met,” said Chiara.

High-school can be a good time to identify your strengths and weaknesses. Scheduling time for life balance and self-care is also important.

“Schedule time for self-care, exercise, fun, social and family life, and academics,” said Chiara.

Finding the things you love to do and sticking to them and not giving up on them to save time for other things is an important thing for keeping your mental health in a good place. Chiara feels that this is important for everyone to keep a good mental health.

“Be kind to yourselves. I can’t emphasize this enough. Understand college is different than high school and it might require more effort or take you more time to get where you want to be academically. Take the time you need to adjust and try not to compare yourselves to others. Remember life balance. If you give up everything you like for college, life will get to be more stressful. Finally, if you feel you are struggling, reach out for help,” Chiara.