Fort Hays State University Top Questions

College is a very different world. It seems that all throughout high school, we are constantly bombarded with tips about what college will be like. Regardless, however, I don’t think it is possible to really understand what university life will be like without knowing for yourself. Thus, if I could go back in time and give myself some advice, I would definitely have some tips to offer. The concept of learning time management is always a topic that seems to be beat to death over and over again. Nonetheless, if could teach my prior self anything, it would be how to manage free time. I could never have anticipated how much different class would be like in college. Much less time is spent in the class room, leaving much more free time to do work outside of class. If I could tell myself anything, it would be to learn time management and prioritizing tasks. Knowing how to manage class outside the classroom is the one skill that I wish I would have prepared for more in high school. If only I could go back in time to offer myself this advice. It would no doubt be helpful now.

"I know that you feel that you don't fit in. You're right, you don't, because you are amazing - you really need to believe this. You need to have faith in your God-given ability to succeed. You were created to do something great - so find a terrific school (you can pick anywhere, because you are really smart) and go! You will tell me that you can't because you can't handle the social issues - well, I'll tell you about that. You wouldn't know this now, but you are on the autism spectrum. Someday you will have a child who is on the spectrum also, and you will realize that he inherited that from you. At first you will cry about this, but eventually you will realize that the "lonely hole" that you say is inside you is simply how your austism manifests itself - autism hampers your ability to connect with others. This will be true forever, but another true thing is that you truly care about others, and someday you will strive to help the world to understand what austism is. How quickly that day comes depends on what you choose to do now."

If I had the chance to go back in time and talk to my high school self I would tell her to focus more on education and getting involved and less on trying to have a perfect social life. I have realized over the past year that partying back then had absolutely no positive effect on my future. I wish I had gotten more involved with clubs and organizations within my school and community. Also, I needed to understand how important my grades and ACT score actually was. If I could go back and study harder for a test or finish all my homework I would. I never fully comprehended the importance of school. If I had directed more of my attention to my studies, then I would not be in the situation I am right now trying to apply for multiple scholarships to be able to afford college. Never will I be able to go talk to the past me, but I can, and will, talk to other high school students and inform them how vital high school education truly is.

Knowing what I know today about college life and making the transition, what advice I would give myself is to enjoy the experience. Make a schedule for your studies and make sure academics are completed to the best of your abilities. Start term papers immediately and not wait until the last minute. Do no be afraid to take a lighter class load to make the good grades because the grades are important to get into graduate school. After you have your academics in place, then have fun and make new friends. In college you will meet so many people from diverse backgrounds that will help you in any field you get into. Have an experience that you can look back on in your fifties and know that you did well academically but you had fun.

I would tell myself to start of the year strong with studying. College is so much more intense than high school and there are so many more opportunities that it can be hard to devote as much time to your schoolwork that you should. I would have told myself to not assume that just because I had a passion for physics I would be able to understand it all. I need to study and invest time into my classes because it is so worth it in the end. I also would have told myself to spend time on my general education classes because even though they aren't always that interesting or fun they still affect your grades and you should do as well as possible in those so that you have a little wiggle room in your harder classes.

Put your school first, no matter what. School is the most important thing for your future and life.

Don't worry about picking a major right away there is a lot of time your first year. Also college isn't scary at all, everyone is in the same boat andthe teachers transition you quite easy. you will need to study more in colleg than in high school though.

I have not yet attended to the full extent of my potential, though the classes I have taken already were very enlightening and helped me improve my writing greatly, and I hope to take away much more within the next four years of my college experiance.

Knowledge. The acquiring of knowledge through education, is most valuable.

Before I came to Fort Hays I was shy, which made it hard to make friends. But when I got here everyone was friendly and they made it easy for me to come out of my shell. Because Fort Hays is such a small school it does not really feel like a place where it is just teachers and students, but a family. We all care about each other. Most colleges the class size is so big that a student is just a number; here the instructors know everyone’s name. I hate to think what my life would have been like if I had gone to a bigger college or even a different college with the same class size. Fort Hays has helped me so much to grow as an individual, while also giving me an excellence education