Colgate University Top Questions

Honestly, these past few years have been frustrating and given the difficulty I’ve had getting a job, I’ve often questioned the value of my bachelor’s degree. Based on my experience, it seems like anyone with an undergrad degree in the sciences inevitably has to pursue an advanced degree to excel in any career path. But my undergrad experience played a pivotal role in the formation of who I am today. Receiving a liberal arts education forced me to explore the world through the eyes of different philosophers and historians while simultaneously doing so as a young scientist. Colgate also gave me the opportunity to explore the world, when I went abroad for my junior year. I hadn’t expected to have as much of a cultural experience as my friends in Europe. Thankfully, I couldn’t have been more wrong. When I went to New Zealand, I lived with students from Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, China and one from the U.S. One night each week, we took turns cooking a signature dish from our native cuisine and we would get to know eachother. What I didn't expect to find was how similar we all actually were.

The university helped to disagnose me with depression which has greatly increased my quality of life and for that I am ever grateful.

If I could go back and give advice to my high school self, my key advice would be: don?t stress! My last few semesters in high school leading up to college apps were almost miserable, as I pulled constant all-nighters to get all my work done, and would kick myself every time I received less than an A (which, sadly, was rather often). I had told myself ?Ivy league or bust? and had set extremely high goals. When it came time to turn in forms to my school?s college counselor, I was told I needed to expand my list of schools a little bit, as I only had a handful. So, naturally, the night before they were due, I went online, looked at a couple of random schools I had never heard of, searched for the schools with the nicest pictures and casually added them to my list. Included in said schools was Colgate. As it happened, I would end up going to this Colgate place, a name I had never heard away from the bathroom counter, and loving it. The point is, everything works out for the best because I couldn?t be happier now!

I would tell myself to not be afraid to try everything. As a freshman in high school, I was really intimidated to try new things and join new clubs. It wasn't until my junior year when I realy started to appreciate everything my high school had to offer and take full advantage of the many extracurriculars at school. Upon graduating, my only regret was that I had not joined the many clubs of which I was then a member sooner. I thoroughly enjoyed being a member of many different activities and I learned a lot. I met so many great friends in the end of my high school career and it would have been nice to have gotten to know them in the beginning of high school rather than at the end.

Meet every person that you can, whether they are upperclassmen, underclassmen, professors, bus drivers, custodians, and espescially the lunch ladies. Don't get discouraged about your grades or your social life because there are always people around you in the same situation; you just have to find them and befriend them. Always keep exploring every inch of your school. Don't go into school with your hands in your pockets and your blinders on because you've got to shake a lot of hands and go on lots of adventures and soak every second of it in. Don't worry about what other people think about you. Do what you want to do because people will respect you for that and there are surely other students similar to you. You may have been towards the top of your class in high school, but so were all of your other classmates at your college/university, so don't freak out about other kids who are smarter than you. You've got to be flexible and roll with the punches in college and when you feel like you are at the end of your rope, just tie a knot and hold on.

If I could have given myself any advice before I went to college, it would have been to believe in myself and to take chances. There was a reason they chose to accept me into Colgate University; they thought I fit. That being said, if they believe in me, why shouldn't I believe in myself? I would tell myself that it is actually nice to be on your own and have to make your own decisions. Yes, it is scary at first, but whether something good or bad comes from a decision you make, the result feels much more satisfying when you make the choice for yourself. I would say, "Grace, you have a head on your shoulders, or else you wouldn't be here. Keep your chin up and never let fear hold you back from what you believe in. Trust in yourself because you are all you will have during the difficult transition."

First off, I would tell myself to chill out and cheer up. I had a horrible senior year fraught with stress-induced anorexia, my grandmother's death, and depressed and suicidal friends. I thought that I would never get over it, so I started my freshman year still brooding, stressed, and angry; I missed out on a lot of opportunities. However, with the new start and friends, I was eventually able to begin the healing process. I would tell myself that I will become happier and that the still raw scars from senior year will fade. I would tell myself to get going, do something, try new things because that is the way to healing, not sulking in my dorm room and replaying all the bad times. Secondly, I would tell myself the three rules that always need to be followed: never fall behind, be responsible, and don't forget to relax. If I knew these rules beforehand, I would have learned more quickly how to manage my time as well as not stress myself out to the point when I couldn't even focus. Lastly, to have fun and be outrageous - to finally not be afraid to be me.

Honestly, I was not personally very nervous to go to college. I felt like I was at a stable point in my life and mature enough to move onto the next part of my life. Once I got to school, however, orientation weekend was extremely overwhelming. I felt nervous all the time. I did not know how to act around all these new people and I could not remember anybody's name, which only added to the stress. Despite the uncomfortable weekend, I grew to love my orientation group and consider some of those people my best friends at school. It is important to embrace all of your experiences at school, even those initial ones that make you feel nervous and out of place. Perserverance is one of the most important traits to hold onto when you start college. Although you will be put into situations that might make you want to back out of your decision to go to school away from home, you must perservere. You will never be able to further mature if you are quick to give up. By staying involved in campus activities, you will soon feel comfortable and love the college experience.

Be prepared to depend on yourself a lot more, and be prepared to deal with beaurocratic annoyances a lot. Try to look at what majors you might be interested in and seriously consider that when choosing colleges. Spend a night at colleges that have that option so you can get a good feel for the atmosphere of a campus.

I would tell myself to get as involved as possible. The only reason I have the friends I do is because I wholly invested myself in the campus radio as soon as school started, However, I should have initially been friendlier to people instead of writing them off as people I didn't think I'd get along with. I spent too much time searching for the perfect friends instead of making friends with the people that there were. To try to correct that, I pledged a sorority and am now becoming friends with girls I don't necessarily have anything in common with. The important thing is to keep an open mind, especially at such a small school.