Florida State University Top Questions

Knowing what I know now about college life and making the transition, I would attempt to impart upon myself a simple lesson: ?It is not whether you win or lose its how you play the game.? Often, life consists of one ?game? or hurdle or another. I always drove myself over hurdles, not focusing on joys amidst the struggles. Rather, I looked ahead, worrying about the next hurdle. Transitioning into college life, like all life-altering transitions, is a hurdle. In hindsight, it is a bitter-sweet vehicle for learning, formation, and opportunity for delights despite the work and heightening of responsibilities. I have known transitions. At two years old, after being diagnosed with leukemia, death was at my door. Eventually, I transitioned back into mainstream society. Later, I transitioned into adulthood, while attempting to care for myself and my single mother, who never left my side and now faces deteriorating illnesses of multiple sclerosis and scleroderma. With little success and less focus on the joys of life, I headed into transition again, into college. With my mother?s life ending early and years of joy wasted, if I could go back, I would impart just a little wisdom.

I think that the most important advice I could give myself would be "Live for yourself. Do what makes you happy." Being in college has made me realize that you can't depend on others for happiness. No one is going to tell you what to major in - you have to do what will ultimately lead you to success and happiness. No one is going to give you advice on what to do on the weekends, whether you should go out and party or stay in and study for that exam you have coming up. This is the most important time of our lives. It's a time when we're learning to make our own decisions that will shape who we become in the end. It's a time when you learn to balance things, which can be hard, but you have to be prepared to do it.

If I was able to go back in time and give my high school self advice I think that there is a lot I would want to say. I would tell myself to make sure the college that you are going to has the right major for you and that you think you will be happy if you go far away from home. I would tell myself to be as outgoing as possible and to get involved first semester of freshman year, it will make the transition so much easier. If I had gone and thrown myself into a lot of differerent things at school I would have had a much better time adjusting. I would tell myself that not all of your friends from high school will stay your friends, but that is ok because it allows for even more new friends to come into your life. I would also tell myself to just go with the flow, be more carefree and enjoy the beginning of college. In the beginning its all new and exciting and you should enjoy that, rather than worring about things that do not truly matter. It truly is all about involvement.

What I wouldn't give to slip into a temporal portal, appear to my high school self as a harrowing, fiery-eyed apparition, and bellow, "Heed this warning, young man: Cursed is he who matriculates at a fine academy yet does not take complete advantage of all the resources at his disposal. Ye shall not bear the fruits of labor as only a warm body in a seat and doing well on exams." Had he heard anything even remotely similar to this vehement declamation, it would certainly behoove that naive adolescent to be much more proactive, not waiting for university professors and administration to offer him rewards and exciting opportunities; ventures that should not only be sought after, but hunted, like wild game fresh for the kill. "To want it," I would project to him, "is to set goals and fight to attain them. Scholastic achievement can only be grappled through assertive means, not just with sanguine passivity! That means being an organizational leader, refining your interests, or maybe even writing for the college paper (for I know how much you enjoy writing). Have the audacity to dare to achieve: you've got nowhere to go but up."

Well, to answer this question really doesn't take much thought since I was only thinking about this a few days ago. I would advise myself to save as much of my money as I can. There are so many little things that come up through out the term that I could have use that money for. Doing as my parents suggested andto look for grants and scholarships making it a practice to do it a few hours a week. Who knows, I might have had more money for school instead of having to borrow it. Now I can't even think about how I am going to pay my parents back. I would advise myself to be neater and not to be so trust worthy of the people around me. Items end up missing, and you haven't a clue that they are missing until you are in desperate need of them and then you realize you can't afford to replace them either. But if I was a neater person, and less trusting of everyone with my things, I would be much more happier not having to explain the lost to my parents over the holiday break.

With all the real life experience I?ve gained from attending Florida State, I would ultimately advise myself to take college for all it?s worth and seize every opportunity that comes my way. I personally believe that all college bound students, including myself, unwittingly miss out on a multitude of chances for growth and knowledge just because of uncertainty or ignorance. I would assure myself that every class I take, every professor I meet, and every student I befriend is a unique opportunity to gain perspective into the future and insight into the concerns and goals of my generation. Furthermore, I would warn myself that every skipped class is a loss, every professor I choose not to connect with or learn from is a loss, and every fellow student I pass by or ignore is a loss. Finally, I would advise myself to make the most out of the next four years or so, seeing as I will probably never have access to such great minds or experience such freedom again in my lifetime.

My advice to my unknowing high school senior self would be to take it all in, always work hard, and most importantly not be afraid. I would tell myself to open up and apply for greater things and not too worry about the small things. Maybe apply for different housing situations or join different organizations. I would tell myself to open up my horizons and not be so narrow-minded because dreams and goals really can be accomplished if you set your mind to it. Even if your afraid, take the chance. You never know what might happen, it could be exactly what you might think or even better, but you will never know unless you try it. You want to take a ballroom dancing class? DO IT! You want to perform in the talent show? DO IT! Do everything you want and make the most out of your high school days because what lies ahead is just more endless possibilities and newer different oppportunities.

I would advise myself to live in a dorm instead of off campus and to join various clubs and sports such as LAE or baseball. I would also advise to complete the FAFSA in January and to research more scholarship and grants. I would also advise myself to spend more time looking for a job on or off campus.

I would emphasize the importance of starting every course off as strong as possibe in order to leave some room for error towards the end of the semester. Also, I would have to teach myself the details of being detailed-oriented and how doing the small things sometimes can make the difference between receiving an "A" and a "B". One of the most critical lessons that should be noted is that you will now be independent of parents' supervision and you must make the best decisions based on your own beliefs and level of maturity. Responsiblity also plays a large part in making the right choices because YOU are SOLELY responsible for the decisions you choose at this point. Another crucial point that would have to be mentioned is that there are distractions of all forms that make it easy to become unfocused from the task at hand; SCHOOL. These distractions can divert your attention from studying for that important test or reading the chapter from your book in order to remain up-to-date with the class material to something less urgent. Just remember school is the first priority and there'll be time for all else later on.

If I could do a fast rewind to my senior year of high school I would stress to myself the importance of being outgoing, and extroverted. I would also tell myself not to worry so much about making new friends, and that being away from home is not as bad as it seems. Most importantly I would remind him that even though it can be a serious pain, and his friends will probably make fun of him he needs to call home at least once a day so his mom does not completely freak out. Also just to get my high school self excited I would remind him that by going to college he gets to attend classes with dozens if not hundreds of other like-minded people who are just as excited about things that kids in high school never seemed to care about.