Emerson College Top Questions

Dear 17 year old me, College is an expansion of high school with longer papers, stricter professors and quicker deadlines. The amount of time you spent in high school on a research assignment will double. At one point, you will find yourself in your room at two thirty in the morning writhing over a paper on Hamlet, Othello and Oedipus. You might buy Ben & Jerry's once a week. But, you will meet people who will expand your creativity in ways you never thought possible. You will thrive in classes and make the deans list every semester. The stress you are feeling now over what college to attend will disappear your second week on campus. You are making the right choice. All of those people who doubted your strength to succeed will be proven wrong. Let go of the anxiety of prospering because you will soar through the next few years.

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Join clubs, make friends, and just be involved in extracurricular activities. Networking goes a long way in the film industry. This is a very collaborative field.

If I could go back to my high school self I would tell myself how much is it worth to play a varsity sport over a affordable option. This is something that I have wrestled with over the years looking back at my decision about where to atten college. I now feel that perhaps I might have been better off going to a more affordable insitution in order give me a much better financial situation as I entered my mid 20's.

The hardheaded and political minded high school Ryan would have told you your faults without any thought. He was a liberal who graduated from a conservative boarding school and nothing made him feel better than to prove others wrong. He did not know that the faults he so longed to extract from others illuminated his own inadequacies. On a naive quest to prove some truth to others the younger me lost more friends than he gained. What could have helped me along the way would have been the understanding that opinion could only transcend division if opinion was confronted with clear and placid understanding. Instead of using my knowledge of the contrary point to prove someone wrong in their actions or opinions it would have been more fruitful to find commonality in the opinions of my conservative schoolmates. I would tell my younger self to understand others. Find the common ground no matter what and cultivate that ground into a prosperous plant. I would tell myself to nurture that plant so that it might grow the fruits of friendship and understanding. Ultimately I have learned that that fruit provides the food through which individuals come to terms with each other.

Dear Anne Marie, I would like to share with you some advice about your future college career. First, it is always a great idea to speak with your professors after class if something was not clear to you. Know that you will not be bothering them because that is what your professors are there for. Also, I know that you worry about instantly having your books and materials as soon as courses begin, however, in college, you need to know that most professors are aware of the high costs of textbooks, particularly in the college's bookstore. It is always a smart idea to look up the course materials prior to the start of the semester and search for them on websites that may sell them at a more economical price. In each course you take, do not be afraid to reach out to fellow students and make acquaintances who can become friends and study partners. Be aware that college will take up a lot of your energy, so it is important to eat healthy meals and snacks throughout the day and drink plenty of water to keep your brain functioning!

You're a dedicated person in many ways, great job! But you have also isolated yourself from some great opportunities. Sure, joining the marching band certainly opened your eyes and personality in many ways. Yet getting involved with other organizations can help shape you more and maybe even benefit you or the community as well. Just because you don't like having too much on your plate, doesn't mean you should ignore the challenge behind whatever it is. It's something that I look at now with occurances from these past few years. Even though I get overwhelmed having a lot going on, it's usually worth the trouble and involvement in the end. It is all for the experience while learning from what roadblocks you may encounter. That is life. We all face challenges, but then we embrace them. It is not something to be afraid of because everyone faces the same complications finding a balance in life's opportunities. You may not like clutter, but take a breath first before saying no to what may be a great opportunity. Life is about taking risks, so see what an opportunity has to offer before letting it go.

You might think you can sacrifice your sleep time to finish a ridiculous amount of schoolwork and internship assignments, but think again. You need to sleep! You are not a vampire from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. Sleep replenishes your energy and helps you feel lively and ready for the day. Life is miserable when you constantly feel like you're sleepwalking through it. Instead of taking multiple four-hour naps throughout the day, have a good night's rest. Remember when you used to run on a nocturnal schedule? You would nap during the day and mainly work at night - you pretty much never saw your friends. You're lucky that your friends didn't forget about you and your workaholic tendencies. Be grateful for your opportunities, but don't forget to take care of yourself.

Having just completed my first year of college, there is plenty of advice that I would give my high school senior self if I could go back in time. The most important piece of advice is one that my mother recently gave to me, "Nothing falls from the sky except for rain." She said this to me because I am unsure if I will be able to complete my education at Emerson College due to insufficient funds. As a child, you get used to getting what you want, even if you whine over petty things. Now that I am older, it is hard to come out of the mentality that I have to fend for myself, and often will have to face difficult times because, in truth, life is painful. I would want my high school self to know that dreams and goals are only achieved through hard work, and sometimes difficult choices have to be made in order to better oneself. I would tell my high school senior self to stop looking up at the sky, waiting for something to fall into my high school senior hands, and instead build a ladder to reach it.

I would say to not stress out, the college process can be a pain but it all works out and whichever school you end up at the most important piece is your outlook and what you're willing to make the best of.

Dear High-School Self, It's been a while. I remember how confusing preparing for college was. We've made some mistakes; I'd love to give you some advice that will help in the following years. 1. Visit more colleges! You only visited one. Fortunately it was our dream college. Visit more colleges anyway. 2. Save money! It's great that you have two jobs. You're earning money & it's tempting to spend it. But when you're nearing the end of college and worrying about student loans, you will kick yourself for not planning ahead. 3. Choose friends wisely. Surround yourself with people who will love & help you along the way. Do the same for others. Please don't be discouraged that not everyone is like that. 4. Care more. It sounds simple, but it's important. Take more time with your art, contribute, become more involved, & ask for help when needed. None of these things make you uncool. It's actually very cool to care. Looking back, you'll think the teenage anarchy was a little silly, but you'll value your experiences. I hope you find success & happiness in the forthcoming years. Good Luck, Me

The most important thing to do is be open to new experiences. Never be afraid to try things for the sake of trying something new. Because you will be majoring in film, learning about yourself is just as important as learning about filmmaking. In the end, film is just a medium...a means to an end. What you really need to be learning is how to tell stories and all of your new experiences will help you bring understanding to the stories you want to tell. Life is will always take you in directions you didn't plan on and your college years are a perfect time to practice making wrong turns take you to where you wanted to go in the first place.

Don't be afraid of change. When going to a new place, especially somewhere far from home, things are going to be different. You won't have the food you're used to, the personal space, or all the comforts of home, but it's okay. You're going to get used to it and be just fine. Don't worry about the whole "finding friends" thing. It isn't difficult when you're around people who have the same passions as you and all you really have to do is (as corny as it sounds) be yourself. Trust me, you'll have someone to talk to in every class if that's what you desire. Speaking of classes, expect them to be harder than what you're used to and a lot more work. It is college, after all. You're going to do a ton of writing, and it's going to have to be good. Just know that as long as you keep up and put forth the effort, the rewards are sure to be great. Do your work. Don't procrastinate on it. And don't be afraid to go for the things you want.

Hello, Ashley, I'm you from the future. You're probably looking forward to college and all of the wonders it does have to offer but I can assure you the partying will not last for long. It's crucial now more than ever that you start learning how to prioritize your time. The real world doesn't call for senseless meandering. It's important that you rank what is most important to you (school work and your job) and focus on those two things before you get to having fun and going out. With that said, be sure not to over work yourself. Yes, college is stressful but it's only as stressful as you make it out to be. Allow yourself to take breaks and relax and also have fun and maintain a social life. When you become a work freak you lose yourself in the process of trying to attain success in a small amount of time. Success will come when you are patient and reward yourself for all of the small things leading up to it.

My high school senior self was shy, inhibited, and afraid of change. My excitement to go to my dream school, Emerson College, was tempered by fear that I wouldn't make friends, that I would be lonely, and there wouldn't be a place for me. Now, in my second year at Emerson, I think I would tell myself of two years ago to take a deep breath and relax. I would tell her that the first month or two of college will be scary and probably lonely, but that the worst thing you can do during this time is to stay in your comfort zone. I would assure her that, despite the cocky rhetoric of her peers, everyone is terrified. I would tell her to forget the "college is the best time of your life" and "all college students do is binge drink and party" stereotypes and remember that college is just another phase of life. Don't put pressure on yourself to conform to what you think college should be, but instead focus on doing what makes you happy, remain open to including new people in your life, do your work, and the rest will fall into place.

If I was able to talk to my self and give my self advice I would say that college is a great way to and that I should have started earlier and that I should have taken the oppertuinity to go to college from Job Corps. but the one major thing that I would stress to my self is that when every thing is looking down going to college is the right and best thing for me to do and to be happy that I am making a great choice. and that my family and friend will be there for me and will support me no matter what and that they are going to be the greatest assest that I am going to have.

Dear diary today as I think about college life and all things that are changing, I must stay on track and focused on my goals. What is important, what is it going to take to achieve my goals. SAVE MONEY....I never knew how expenses college truly was going to be, I should have worked harder on scholarship forms in high school. School work is not about wasting your time, it is about building your future. A future to support yourself, a family. Set your sights high, build bridges and friendships along the way. Allow time to help others through volunteering. Start each day ANEW DAY. Remembering my faith in God and family will give me strength and peace. Make time for myself each day.

Go for it! You didn't give yourself enough credit. You worked so hard and you really do have an edge over other students because of it. You had the drive to start your high school's internship program and become the first student there to hold an intern position...that's special! You should travel more. Spend your senior summer interning in New York because your college summers fill up quick with study opportunities, plans and work, so do WHATEVER YOU CAN NOW! Go one trips, use your car to visit places you've never been (you don't have a car in college!) Please, please, please save your money! Those shoes you bought last week...they'll wear out in a months. Save your money to make buying an apartment, books, and travel easier on yourself. Take any opportunity you can, you rock!

Graduate early, Em! High school didn't challange you enough, and you knew it! There was no need to waste time there when Emerson was waiting for you all along. You never gave yourself credit for your talents until college, and I've learned so much now that I wish I could have been more confident before and done more in highschool, or just get to college sooner. You actually ARE a great writer; everyone here agrees. You have a real talent for doing make-up and hair too! Who would have thought? Try it out! You'll really like it. You actually become the head-stylist at YourMag, an awesome magazine on campus. You should start one in high school, it'll look great on your resume, which, by the way, you should work on NOW while you have time. It took me a week to perfect once I got to college! You don't need to stress out so much, you're great! Try some new things while you have extra time, and please TAKE AN ART CLASS. I've always wanted to try and now I'm way too busy. Good luck, girl. You'll be great.

Knowing what I know now, I would have told myself to remain in Ohio and earn my associates there where I had a full ride scholarship to Sinclair Community College instead of moving to Texas. I was just naive and thought there would be more opportunities here in Houston away from my small home town.

If I could talk to myself as a college senior, I would tell myself that my instincts are correct; Emerson College is the college for me; however, I would also tell myself to seek out community. Excelling in my field is wonderful, but people to spend time with are equally as important. I'd recommend to myself that I join a community service organization and look for a religious group where I can more comfortably be myself without judgment. I would also tell myself to consider proactive thinking when confronted with problems rather than retreating into myself in an effort to keep the peace. There is always a responsible, positive solution to a problem; the trick is figuring out what it is.