Samantha Stetzer/Winonan

With midterms upon the Winona State University campus, simultaneous groans or sighs of relief can be heard sweeping through the buildings. For freshmen, it is the first real taste of college-level classes and tests.

This time of year can raise questions: how hard is the transition from high school to college? What is Winona State doing to help freshmen improve their performance in academics?

Kayla Severson, a freshman from Holmen, Wis. with an undecided major, is finding out firsthand.

Severson never actually intended to go to Winona State. Originally, Severson wanted to be an education major and was seriously considering University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She was unable to get in and settled on Winona State University.

Even so, Severson said she was thankful she goes here instead.

“I am really happy that I decided to go to Winona. It has so far been a wonderful experience, and I think it all worked out for the better,” she said.

For Severson, high school was easy.

“It was easy to get by,” Severson said. “In high school you could still get a good grade even if you did not work as hard as you could. In college you really have to focus.”

Rachel Dugan, a freshman who is an athletic training major, agreed.

“High school was just easy,” she said. “You could skate by without doing an assignment, but in college, if you don’t do an assignment, you’re failing.”

Dugan was deciding between Saint Mary’s University here in Winona or Winona State, and in the end chose to go here.

Dugan came here all the way from Sturgeon Bay, Wis. The transition, she said, was difficult at the onset.

“It is kind of hard to adjust. It is not as bad anymore because it got easier once I made friends,” she said.

However, for Dugan, classes were still a little intimidating.

“Anatomy is hard. All my other classes are hard, yet they are manageable,” she said.

Krista Rust, a freshman nursing major from Glenwood, Minn., said the academic rigor wasn’t the biggest challenge for starting college.

“It was fine,” she said. “The thing you really got to get used to is being on your own.”

For Rust, the content in classes is not as much of an issue. “I did take college classes in high school, so I kind of know how they work,” she said. “But for me it was the size that was a change.”

Severson, Dugan and Rust have all had different experiences transitioning to college. Both Severson and Rust have experienced a little bit of homesickness.

“It made the transition kind of difficult. Maybe it was not having air conditioning; maybe it was just being away from my family,” Severson said.

“I kind of miss my surroundings. And the first two weeks were hard because it was awkward,” said Rust.

Dugan, on the other hand, said she has not really felt homesick at all.

Sometimes the transition into college is bumpy. In the case of Alex Mossman, a sophomore this year, it was downright rough. In his first year, Mossman was placed on academic probation, then academic suspension, eventually having to appeal the suspension in order to return the following year.

“It was really hard,” Mossman said. “I was doing summer classes, and they told me I had to wait until I finished those before I could appeal. It was very frustrating.”

Last year, Mossman was a music education major, and he could never find time for his general classes because of the workload he was given from his major’s classes. Now a mass communications major with an emphasis on electronic media, Mossman is trying his hardest to not let himself fall through the cracks again, with some success. His classes, he said, are going well.

“College is harder than you expect,” Mossman said. “You’re told to make all these new friends, live on your own and succeed in school. You suddenly have to juggle everything at once, and it gets really difficult.”

For anyone, not just freshmen, in danger of falling into academic probation or suspension, Mossman had a few words of advice.

“Let probation be a huge wake up call to you, “ Mossman said. “I did not take it as seriously as I should have, and now I am completely starting over again, almost like a freshman.”

The students agreed that college is a huge transition, but that it can also be a great one; one that everyone experiences it a little differently.

“Step up and try as hard as you can,” Mossman said. “College is hard; you can do it.”

Contact Samantha at [email protected]