Expectations of college can play a major part in determining how a student performs in a new school environment. When asked, some AVID students at Los Arboles Middle School, in Marina, imagined that college would be "A lot of work," that you would have to "study hard," and you would have to "do all your work."

While these were the responses from eighth graders, CSUMB students reflect back on their own expectations with very similar conclusions. As Patty Delgado explains,

Expectations? I thought it was going to be really hard. I thought the teachers were really going to be really mean. That I wasn't going to get that much support from other people, I wasn't going to meet a lot of people. I was going to be a loner.

As students get closer to college, they may become overwhelmed by the thought of being alone in a large student body and wonder if they will be able to survive in such an environment. Ms. X shares a more positive realization of her experience:

Hmmm....Not what it is. (Laughs). What did I expect it...? I expected actually to be a lot harder. I think my junior college was a lot harder than it is here. Community college, actually like the classes were harder. I don't know. They had test and I'm not very good at taking tests. So I always freaked out. Like they had Scantrons, everything was Scantron because there was so many people in the classroom that it was just multiple choice and they are tougher than they are here because here there's projects and presentations. And at Moor Park, which is where I went, everything was Scantron. You didn't like the teachers. They didn't even know your name; it was just your number so your social security number and that was your name, I guess (laughter). But coming here, I expected it to be a lot tougher than it is. So I'm pretty like relaxed. The atmosphere isn't to bad (laughs).

Aside from academic concerns, Clementina Pantoja, a fifth year student in the Credential Program, remembers the fear of not having guidance. When asked, "What where your expectations of college, what did you think people did in college?" she replied:

Like high school somebody gives you a class, you go at the time they give you, you have your lunch, you turn in your homework and that's it. But once I went to college, I mean, if you showed up, you showed up. If you didn't, you didn't. You chose your classes and you chose when to have your breaks and what days to go to school. So all of that was new to me and it scared me. I thought, "My god what am I doing here?" And then I had no one around me to tell me "This is the way it is. This is how it's gonna happen. If you feel this way come and talk to me." Nothing, it was like basically you were on your own, or so I felt.

In contrast, others are excited by the idea of being away from home for the first time and experiencing new things. Sun Kang reflects:

When I first was going to go to college I was like, "Oh, OK! The parties I'm going to go to! The people I'm going to meet!" You know, partying was probably like the main . . . partying and the education-- Having fun was the most important. But coming here, I did my partying. You know, I did my thing. And when I think about it now, coming to college is not all about that. It's about the people you meet, the different experiences, the education . . . just living that life of being on your own to the point where you're making your own decisions. You have to wake yourself up to go to class. You have to wake yourself up to go to work if you're sick. Your mommy and daddy is not going to be there. You have to look out for yourself. And coming here, that's what's changed.