California State University-San Bernardino Top Questions

The greatest gift I received from my college experience was the "gift of opportunity!" Pursuing my higher education allowed me "opportunities" to become a teacher and then a school administrator. Additionally, my college education provided me the background knowledge of pursuing other career paths had my first choice of education not worked out. As I work with young grade school students today -- especially, our 5th graders -- I often try to encourage them to embrace their educational opportunities; so that, they have "choices" in the future. My college education has been so valuable in retaining a career in education, and now working as an administrator to support and encourage our youth.

I've met new people and learned more about myself in the process.

I have made some great friends at CSUSB. The Criminal Justice department is wonderful! There are ample opportunities to excell in academic work, the professors, for the most part, really seem to care and are willing to help students succeed. I have and will continue to learn a great deal at this school! Knowledge I acquire here will be extremely useful in my future career as a Paralegal. This campus is a little ray of sunshine in the middle of a city that has "questionable" qualities.

My college experience has not only given me an excellent education, but it has opened my mind to other views and made me more aware of the world around me. It has given me an opportunity to mature and to be independent. Also, I have learned different skills such as time management and to gain a hard work ethic. I also have learned to not take things for granted and learn how to live in the "real world" on my own. Going to college has helped me develop values and skills that will help me for the rest of my life, be it in my future career or relationships with others.

Since going to college I have been able to meet a variety of people that go to college. It has been nice to be able to talk to some of the people in my classes because they all have different backgrounds. I have been able to get a lot of valuable and helpful information on the major that I am going for. While attending the community college and taking classes that are specifically for my major, I was able to talk to people that are going for the same major that I am going for. Even some of my teachers were helpful because they work in that field. In being their student I was able to find out what I need to do in order to pursue my career. When I started college, I didn't know what I was getting into or what I was supposed to do after to get into my career field. But since I have attended I know now what I need to do in order to be on the right track to reaching the job that I want to do.

I have learned a lot that has helped me to grow in ways that I did not realize education could do. It has been a valuble to attend because there has been theories and techniques used in class or homework that I can use in my personal life.

mainly what i have gotten out of my first year in college is what it is meant to work and study. i have taken such difficult courses my first year, and however i managed to survive and get good grades. college has showed to ask for help when you need it, that theres always someone willing to help, and that essentially to study and work. never did i ever imagine that college would introduce to me a variety of different people, each who over time i have learned greatly off. college truely has been the greatest time in my life, for attending college gets me closer to accomplishing my dream.

In my college experience I have learned the value of time management. This is so important in getting through college. Without this, it is very easy to become unorganized and get lost in social events. It is greatly important to find the balance between the two. College is very valuable to attend because various life lessons will and have been learned. Everyone makes mistakes in life and college is certaintly the place to take the lessons learned and apply them so one can move forward and make right decisions.

Moving away from home was the smartest college decision I made. All my friends say they wish they had moved away and are basically miserable staying home. Moving away has allowed me to meet new and different people and has opened my eyes to more oppurtunities. I have a lot more freedom being away from home and being in college. I am allowed to go out and experience different things and go to different places. Going to college will allow me to achieve my goals in becoming what I want to be. Meeting these new people will allow me to communicate with them and they might open my eyes to other oppurtunites with their ideas.

Going into college I was planning on becoming a police officer. I sang in the choir for fun. The choir director began to really push me toward switching my major to music. Contemplating the matter I thought about how much music has affected my life so I talked to my parents about it. They too thought that it was a good idea because they had always seen the joy I got out of singing. So after my first semester at SCC I changed my major to music but I didn?t know what musical profession I wanted to go into. I began to think about all the teachers that had helped me in my childhood and I started edging toward education. But the person that really made me make up my mind was my college choir director. I would not be anywhere without him, he is one of the greatest guys I know, and he is one of the best directors I've sung under. If I become half the director he is, then I know that I would have completed my educational goals. So you see; I've gotten the rest of my life from going to college!

The knowledge and the experience to work with different types of people, different ethnicities, backgrounds, cultures, etc in different types of environments. Obtaining the idea that everything has deadlines and that one must work hard to get what they want out of life. The value of attending college is far more than just a price one might have to pay. The appreciation of higher education and being able to go farther into careers or just go ahead in life--to be able to experience, to grow, and to learn from everything that has happened during ones college experience shows just how much attending college really is.

The advice that I would give myself is to be more open in meeting new people. To get rid of the fear of rejection and make friends. And to also get rid of the fear of public speaking. I would also tell myself to focus on my studies more to make better grades to get into the school that I originally wanted to be in. I would advise myself to study more on the SATs to get a higher score. Getting more scholarships would be something I would most definitely advise myself to get going on. I had to take out loans to make payments that my father could not make. So I would love to work harder at getting more scholarships to pay for the things that I needed my first year.

Time is of the essence. You're seventeen years old now, but in the next four years you'll be thirty-five. I don't mean to scare you with that, I just mean to be honest. Be ready to earn your keep and work hard and meet deadlines--shortcuts are nonexistent in the very adult, very real world you're about to venture into. Think. Every day. Every Minute. Think about who you are in relation to who you want to become later on. Accept. Accept every shortcoming, every miserable failure, as your chance to demonstrate a courage you never knew you had. Forgive. Forgive yourself for that little identity crisis thing--it's happening to everyone around you too. Balance. Balance will save your life! We're all given the same 24 hours in a day--use them well. Lastly, when it comes time to choose your career, choose a path that truly speaks to you--follow the kind of work that you can see yourself doing for free and I guarantee you will die happy. Period.

If by some miracle I could go back in time, I'd warn myself to see my advising counselor early and to get that out of the way so there wouldn't be any holds on my account before I registered for classes. If I had that opportunity to warn myself about that, I could have had a better winter quarter. And as I stated before, it get pretty cold up there, so I'd remind myself to keep a coat and umbrella in the back of my car, even if it does look nice outside because the weather can tke drastic changes in an instant!

If I was able to go back in time, I would tell myself to get involved more. I think to get a great education and college experience, students need to put themselves out there. Joining clubs, being involved, and making new friends makes the college experience. Although sociallizing and being involved in school related activities is important, academics are extremely important. Academics and keeping up with all school work should be a top priority. Many students start college with a newly found freedom. Unfortunately this freedom can lead to students dropping out because they were too busy partying while they let their grades suffer. Keeping up on grades can set you apart from other applicants when it comes to applying for internships. Another great thing to do for your community is to volunteer. Volunteering gives people work experience and skills that employers look for in an applicant. Lastly, I would tell myself to relax and not stress out. School can be tough, but if you stay focused and have fun with your newly made friends, everything will work out and you will be successful.

People say we learn from our mistakes. It?d like to teach my younger self the lessons I?d learned without him experiencing them; However, I don?t think that?d be effective. Nevertheless, there are things that I?ve learned over the years that would?ve really helped me out in the past. First, I?d teach myself to spend more time on me. In high school I was so girl crazy it was ridiculous. Second, I?d tell myself to keep my outgoing personality. Most people don?t spend that much time on campus to socialize. Third, I?d tell myself to remember to get all of the e-mails of friends, and create a new social networking site like MySpace. I would teach myself that doing what?s hard and difficult is usually more beneficial than doing what?s fast and easy. I?d tell myself to read textbooks while using highlighters. I?d also have my younger self develop a habit of keeping his school books because the knowledge contained in them is worth more than the twenty dollars the school buys them back for. I might even give myself the winning lotto numbers, just kidding.

GPA is not everything actually study the material for AP classes and take as many as you can actually pass to get college credit. Enjoy not working and free books while you can it's going to end. One more thing, apply to the scholarships or you're going to struggle to pay for everything.

The advice that i would give myself is to concentrate as much possible to try to get every useful piece of information that the teacher is saying, while i take notes, to make myself a better note taker. That way i wouldn't struggle much in taking notes when the professor is lecturing, and i don't catch everything the professor says.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a senior, I would say to take the AP tests and actually study for them. I would tell myself to pay attention more and do what ever I could for an A. Iwould of told myself to not be so inot sports and more into my classes. I finally realized that I need to stop being a child and grow up for college. I needed to get free money because I will be in debt once I get out of school. I would tell myself to go get all the scholarships that I could so I wouldnt have to work part time and barely have enough money to pay for things.

Paul houghtaling [email protected] 608-385-1429 36186 Roosevelt st. whitehall WI 54773 Paul I am your 33yr old self and I am here to tell you about college and the opportunities you could miss if you don't start earlier it will be harder to obtain things like scholarships , grants , loans, even acceptance to the college you want. The oppurtunities that are presented to you at this time will never be easier to get then now. Take the bull by the horns before the bull bucks you off and your 33 yrs old with a job that doesn't pay you enough and isn't fullfiling you're needs such as paying the bills or having the car in the garage being fixed because you can't afford a new one. The time is now so take advantage while your young and have your whole life in front of you, because if you don't the outcome is bleek. thank you paul hoghtaling 01/19/2010