A couple weeks ago I briefly talked about what it was like to live on a college campus and take classes there.  Well, after a week-long mission trip to Honduras in between, I was back at the college life again, this time at Oklahoma Christian University in Edmund, Oklahoma.

I was blessed with the opportunity to attend yet another summer honors academy for two hours of college credit there at OCU.

This academy was a week full of classes and homework assignments with field trips and guest speakers jammed into the schedule.  The hands on experiences like culturing cells in a biology lab and going to a museum containing numerous biblical artifacts including fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls were truly unique opportunities.

My word of advice if the chance to attend some sort of academic camp on a college campus ever arouses: take it.  It is programs like these that are great ways to test the waters of college life in more ways than one.

All the factors involved in the college experience that parents and college counselors preach about, believe it or not, are definitely true.  Responsibility, time management, self-accountability—I felt the pressure and, sometimes, the burden of these characteristics while I was at OCU.

Whether it was making sure I woke up on time or finishing homework while juggling planned activities as well as the ever-present desire to clown around with my buddies in the dorm, I realized that I was basically on my own.  This came with little comfort since the expectations were still there, but no one was there to baby me along or hound me until I got it done.

This is where many habits that high school students are guilty of falling into break down.  Procrastination won’t work.  Your mom won’t wake you up in the morning if you sleep through your alarm; don’t count on your roommate to wake you up either.

Don’t let college creep up on you.  Start taking precautions while you still can.  Take more responsibilities because, in college, it’s all on you.