Florida State University Top Questions

Make sure that you don't let anything interfere with what you want to do with your life. Education is such an important aspect in being who you want to be. School should be about what you want out of life and not what others may want, do it for YOURSELF.

First, I tell my college self to start looking into financial aid and scholarships now. Money is a big issue in college and the more you can obtain now helps ot in the long run. Also, along those lines, get a job; if I could get a job as a senior and then transfer to Tallahassee that would have been helpful. Second, decide what you want to major in so you aren't stuck in unuseful classes. THe difference in classes from biology to criminology is greater than you realize. Another thing, don't listen to your mom when she tells you not to change from a biology major; it is your choice and you have to live with it the rest of your life. Finally, enjoy your senior year because once college starts, bye-bye social life.

I would tell myself is to never doubt the power I had to make a difference. In college you see that have so many opportunities to do this, but as a high school student you can make the same kind of difference in your community. After coming to Florida State I found that my passion is being a servant leader. I'm involved with many different organizations on campus. I serve as the first ever President of the Sophomore Class council, on the Leadership Council of the Student Alumni Association, as the Student Support Chair of Camp Kesem at FSU, and as a Peacejam mentor. PeaceJam is an organization that mentors high school students and does exactly what this scholarship question asks. We work with high school students and show them things they can do and what they can achieve. We give the support, advice and resources they need to be successful and make a difference in the world. Each year at the PeaceJam conference a Nobel Peace Prize laureate comes to Florida State for a weekend and high school students from all over the country present the project they have chosen to help an area of people in need.

GO TO THE COLLEGE ADVISOR! Since you are the first person in your family to go to college, you will have to learn absolutely everything on your own. It took you a few years to actually start getting involved, so that is why I am telling you; visit your high school college advisor! She will tell you everything you need to know from the different kinds of scholarships you can apply to, to the waivers you can get for being a financial aid student. You will also learn more about joining extracurricular activities and what can boost up your college application. Go visit her monthly your junior year because that is when you’ll need her the most! So have fun your senior year but remember to still take it seriously! You’ll turn out great, I promise!

College has taught me many things so far and looking back I wish I had learned these attributes to make a better transition from a senior to a first year college student. You need self-discipline, and good time management. Getting to class on time, pushing yourself to do your best, and staying on top of your work load all require a person to have self-discipline. No professor is going to “spoon feed” the topic to you like some high school teachers will. Being able to persevere and learn the topic on your own shows that you have the willpower to succeed. Also you need good time management because in college you are not given extra time to do assignments; you are required to be responsible to get the work done on your own time. When given a group project it is up to you to decide who does what, and when you need to get it done. Getting assignments and projects done early allows you to perfect minor details and check your work. Following and learning good time management and self-discipline is the key to achieving academic success.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, the advice I would give is to pay less attention to the small details of the college application process and to give more thought to the big picture. The big picture meaning the place that you will potentially spend the next four years of your life, perhaps the most mentally and emotionally developing time you will ever experience. I would say to think about if this institution will make you truly happy and give you the resources to reach your highest potential and achieve all of your goals. Without these factors, all of the grades, community service, and involvement that you have worked so hard for wont matter because they will all be thrown away on a university that is not right for you. Don't let your friends, location, or popularity make your decision for you because only you will be the one actually experiencing all of the great opportunities that college has to offer. So before you suffer another panic attack, close your eyes and picture yourself a year from now, wherever that is, hit submit for that application.

The best advice I could give my past self involves two things: confidence and focus. Throughout high school I was so focused on being liked that I forgot to just live in the moment and enjoy myself. The people who actually care about me are the people I still talk to now, and all of those other people I only see on Facebook, and will most likely never talk to again. Which brings me to the second part of my advice; I wish I would have focused better. Instead of letting myself get so easily distracted by my phone, my computer, and trying so hard to make lots of friends— especially since you only end up keeping the closest ones after graduation when you all start going separate ways. I think if I would have focused better and had better study habits I could have gotten 4s or 5s on ALL of six of my AP Tests, instead of just three; that is money I could have saved for college and I also would have gotten more sleep, which was something I seemed to lack every day in high school, and that definitely had a negative effect on my education.

Embrace the college life. Seek out clubs and organizations to get involved in. Try new things. Find productive ways to fill your free time. Use this opportunity to meet new people and form connections. Learn how to balance fun and work. It's important to get involved, but the main reason you're here is school. Go to class. Don't forget to focus on learning and be prepared for class. If you need help, find it. Seek out resources made available by your school and keep them in mind for times of crisis. Expect highs and lows and remember that tough times won't last forever. If you're unhappy, change something. This is a time to figure out who you are and what you want, don't be discouraged by failures, use them and learn from them.

I would sayto myself to apply for more scholarships. They're everywhere you look, I just never took the time to apply for them. I would also remind myself to go out and do as much as extra curricular activites as possible, and to be ready for a more diverse eviornment than I had ever experienced before.

Although the transition from highschool to college might be a frightening one, there is so much to look forward to. The freedom of being away from home and your parents was daunting, even for me, and it even may consume you once you get it, but keep on focusing on why you are here. Don't go crazy trying to focus on the academics, and don't get consumed by the desire of "college life." You will incorporate yourself into the college community and love it! Don't be upset about leaving behind friends, and family. They would want you to make the most of your experience. You will meet new friends, and have amazing times in your "new life." This is the time you have to dedicate, and begin the journey that starts the rest of your life. Here in college it allows you to take that step that jumpstarts your new career, new desires, and new adventures. If you though high school was something special, wait until you get into college. You will love it.