Berry College Top Questions

I have learned a good many things in the semester that I have been in college. I learned the value of time management as well as that of staying on task. Meeting new people is something that I was never good at, but I had to learn fast because I lived in a room with three other girls, and I didin't know anyone on campus. Learning how to be independent was definitely a skill that I had to learn as well, this being the first time that I did not have my family there with me to help me when I needed it. I also learned to treasure having people around you that truely have your best interest at heart. Being away from my family and friends and put into a new chapter in my life really helped me to realize how hard my mother worked to let us have the life that we did. Another thing that I learned was that the career that I have chosen to strive for really is something that I would like to do for the rest of my life.

The Berry College community welcomes you from the moment you step on campus and becomes your family away from home. The relationships between the students, professors, and all faculty/staff is as strong as steel. A regular occurance at Berry is not just limited to the President of Berry's campus sittling with you at lunch. Some professors will allow you to come visit their house, do laundry, or even babysit their kids. I don't know where I'd be without my advisor to guide me, my teachers to teach and encourage me, and my friends to create memories with. One of the primary reasons my college experience has been valuable to me is the Berry student work program. This program allows students to work on campus to earn money to pay for college expenses or have a little extra spending money. Through this experience, I have not only learned financial responsibility, but many life lessons from my job on Grounds Crew and from my supervisor. Hard work, perserverance, and time management are just a few examples of what I have learned from the work program, as well as yardwork skills. Berry College is the place to be.

My life has been enriched in so many ways by attending college. My venturing outside of my comfort zone I've made new friends, learned how to better think critically, and experienced what it's like to be pushed to my limit. Now that I've seen it for myself, I can't imagine my life without college.

One year ago I was entering my spring semester of high school. After I graduated and arrived at Berry I started missing home, I had a tough few weeks of decision-making. I could miss my home and friends that, frankly, would never be the same again and succumb to my nostalgia or I could make the best of Berry and begin to make it the home McEachern had been for me. As I was wrestling with the decision, I talked to my friends from home. We were scattered around the US and I realized that if I was having trouble succeeding at Berry on my own, I needed to do it for them. I needed to succeed for the the teachers that loved and invested so much of their time in me and for my family and friends who supported me through everything. So, if I could go back and tell my high-school self something it would be this: If what I left behind was really something special, it's eternal and the only way to truly honor its memory was to take what I learned and the person I became and make something out of it.

My advice would have to be to apply myse,f and do my best in all areas of my high school career. I would advise myself to get more involved in clubs and sports, as well as volunteer more in my community. I would remind myself to communicate with my teachers, learning from them, and soaking up any and all information that they had to offer. I would force myself to learn better study habits, as my high school education came to easy to me. I didn't have to study very much, which created a problem my first semester, as college hasn't been near as easy and has required much more studying.

If I could go back in time I would tell myself to focus less on proving my independence by going to an out-of-state school and more on going someplace where I will have the resources I need to succeed. I?d make sure I knew that wanting to be near your family wasn?t ?weak? or ?lame?, but normal. My high school self would know that, though RMCAD was a great school it wasn?t a good fit for me, and not every great school will be. I would also make sure that I knew that dropping out of one school to find a better fit where I will be happier does NOT constitute failure, and changing colleges is not the end of the world. I would make sure I knew that focusing so much on being perfect and succeeding instantly won?t benefit me at all and that I am allowed to mess up, make mistakes, and be scared because it is all part of the experience and all of it will make me stronger and happier in the long run.

The events that have lead up to who I am as a college student have not changed my dreams, but they have made me see what I have to do to achieve the lofty goals I set as a child. If I were to go back and have a chance to talk to myself as a High School senior, I would tell myself to have faith in your friends and to have hope in the mercy of the world around me. I have had to struggle from the moment I entered college, not only financially but academically as well, but the two things that have kept me going so far has been the constant support of my friends and the kindness I have received from organizations that have believed in my mission to help people. I would tell myself to hold tight to our dream of being a physician and that he should not forget along the way that the inevitable goal is to help and that doing so doesn?t require a medical degree.

If I could go back and talk to myself I would advise me to weigh out all my options and to focus on my priorities. It is important to choose a school based on your needs and wants. If finances are an issue look for a school that offers scholarships, or talk to financial aid offices if you are set on a school that costs too much. Learn to do things on your own and be as organized as possible, organization skills make life so much easier. Also, while you are in school, education is your main focus. The purpose of school is to get an education and prepare you for your adult life and career. So, the main thing I would say to myself is, don't get distracted and allow your grades to slip, because once you lose that 4.0 it is impossible to get it back. Also, pick a major that you feel passionate about and that will make it easier for you to learn. Most of all though, just try to have fun....responsible fun, you're an adult now.

I would tell myself not to worry about whether or not I am going to get into college. I would tell myself to work harder and not slack off. I would tell myself to try to balance home life and friends better before college. And most importantly, I would tell myself not to stress about money because one way or another I am going to find a way to pay for college.

I would definetly take work more seriously my senior year. Many times senior think that the last year is the easiest but in reality it is the hardest because it is when transitions happen and it is when a future is determined. For example, students who dont take it seriously forget college deadlines and are not able to enroll until the following year or semester/ It is verycrucial to have a bright brain senior year inorder to be successful the next four years of college.

When I entered college I had all these ideas of what I wanted to do with my life, but I had never explored how I was going to achieve those goals. I pressured myself to do the best that I could to live up to my mother?s expectations. By the time my first year ended, I did not have much of a social life or many friends. Looking back on my experience, I wish I could tell my senior self not to forsake relationships for academic success, there is a happy medium. Once I started developing friendship and increasing my social life, I found that success in school increased and that I became less stressed. I only wish I had the friendship skills then as I have developed now. For the first time in my college experience, I am truly happy and successful, and it is my junior year. Now that I have figured out a good balance between my social and academic life, I am gaining valuable friendships and relationships with people who are in my field of study, and who want to help me succeed in my future.

If i could go back to visit myself in high school, I would slap myself in the face and I would tell myself to focus more. In high school i procrastinated on everything so I would tell myself to find better ways of finishing projects on time. I would also tell myself to apply to more colleges and scholarships so that I wouldn't have to struggle with finding money now.

Ever since I could remember I was looking forward to attending college. As the saying goes, " it is the best four years of your life. " Little did I know as a high school senior preparing for college the amount of opportuinties and chances to experiance new things that I would have. If I were to go back and talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself to prepare to become an adult. No longer will there be the friends that I have know since elementary school that I was dependent on. No longer will I have to follow a schedule that someone else has created, eating at a set time and place, etc. I would tell myself to prepare to grow as a person and learn more about the world. My transition into college was not just a change in location, but a change in myself to become a better person.

I would give myself the advice to save all my money. Academics should always be first, but money should be second. Though there are meal plans at school, it helps to have money for books (which are ridiculously expensive), emergencies such as car troubles and doctors visits. Also, if you have your own money, you can help your parents out. If your family is financially not doing well, it is a blessing to help out any way you can. If you start college out with money, you will less likely be in debt when you graduate. Saving money is the best tip, and the second best is to manage money wisely. Don't spend it on things you don't need- put it in a savings account called COLLEGE and don't touch it!

I would tell myself to not expect the environment to change much from high school if I were to still go to Berry. It is still very much a controlled environment. I should look around at more schools and apply to more than just Berry. I wouldn't change where I ended up, but I think I should just know more about other schools. People at Berry are very friendly and I should be prepared for lots of enthusiasm. I will need lots of patience with students and the administration. Also, the food is horrible.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior and knowing what I know now about college I would tell myself to start learning how to use my time wisely and manage it to the best of my ability. Time is of essences and the work to be done requires a lot of it whether or not I want to do it, so do it now. I would tell myself to learn how to study and make wise choices. Studying is key to doing well in college; if you have studied then study again you will need the extra help. Making wise choices are important, putting off work for some fun now will greatly hurt you later. I would talk about how I should not rush myself out the house because the freedom I will get is dangerous if it is not properly used. Even though I can make my own choices and live my own life in college, I will be missing the family house rules because consequences there are less harsh. Every part of the academic side of school is important but these are of most importance for me to grasp.

I would advice myself to start a part-time job and save as much money as possible. In addition, I would work on organization skills, time management, and meeting deadlines. In addition, I would begin working on scholarship applications as soon as possible. The most important advice I could give myself in high school would be that although my education will be worth the cost, I should do all I can to reduce that price.

Many assume that high school aged kids can grow and learn how to do things in college or when they get out on their own. I really wish I had had a guidance counselor or mentor who would have explained how things in the real world work. For example, I would have spent much more time looking at financial aid or doing a joint enrollment program to help reduce the stressful amount of hours I need to take to graduate on time. I wish I had known how to budget properly and time manage because there are stressful times in college when unavoidable situations occur and time management would have saved a lot of lost sleep. Instead of stressing about SAT scores and the future, I should have chosen to relish in the high school environment of diversity and friendships. With a background of public school, I should have paid more attention to the variety or students that surrounded me and how I could have better communicated with them to empathize with who they are and where they come from, both their cultural and family backgrounds.

Knowing what I know now, I would go back to my senior year and tell myself knowledge that would make me be less stressed and allow me to enjoy my freshman year. I would have applied for more local/state/national scholarships and I would have kept better track of how much financial aid I would need to cover my tuition for both the fall and spring semester. I would have made myself kick my habit of procrastinating, which has been detrimental to achieving my academic goals. I also would have figured out my major and minor at the beginning of my fall semester, so I could have had a decisive road to travel from the start. I would have told myself to put myself in the spotlight more often and get comfortable talking around people I don't know. If I had done half of those things: I would have a higher GPA, I wouldn't be worried about paying off the $4,185.00 that I still owe, I would be less stressed, and I would able to spend my time doing things that I enjoy.

I would tell myself to start researching different colleges as soon as possible because I was not very open at that point. I would also tell myself to focus on narrowing the colleges down by selecting only the ones with good education programs since that is what I was looking for. I would also remind myself not to turn away a college just because I thought it was too expensive. Another thing I would have told myself was to look into as many scholarships as I could find. I have more options than the usual senior since I am Hispanic and American Indian, and I should take advantage of the opportunities available to me. I would also tell myself to think everything through with great importance because it will affect the rest of my life.