Francis Marion University Top Questions

I would tell myself enjoy the journey and take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. And when the hard times come, take a step back and focus on the end goal. And when things go your way be grateful to those that help you get there and always, always remeber them.

To stay foucus and not allow anything or anyone to distract you from your goal.

If I could go back and give myself advice as a high school senior, I would tell myself to truly choose the college that was best for me. I made the mistake of picking my first university for the wrong reasons; as a result I ending up transferring after my first year. I did not choose the first university I attended because it was a strong academic institution, I could see myself happy there for four years, or because I liked what the college stood for. I chose it because it was close to home and I was scared to make one of the toughest decisions in my life, which was to select a college that was out of state away from family . I am fortunate to have now found what I consider to be the institution for me here at Francis Marion University.

As a new college student the most important thing is to be organized. College is not as structured as high school and most of the work is done outside of class. When you are only in the classroom a few hours a day, remaining time is study time. This new concept that you are not in school for seven to eight hours a day is difficult to get used to and requires much focus. Setting certain times to work on assignments is very crucial to academic success. Usually you know several weeks ahead of time when an assignment is due; procrastinating is never a good idea and usually does not result in your best work. The best way to succeed on test and assignments is to work on it a little bit each day. Also most general education classes require a lot of reading possibly one to two chapters a week per class. This can be very time consuming and often unentertaining to the reader. I would suggest taking notes as you read so you can look back at them and also, to read for only one or two hours at a time to keep from getting overwhelmed and frustrated.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would let myself know that there are other ways to enter college. Rather than focus all my hopes on one or two schools, I would look at 2-year schools with transfer options to 4-year schools. The cost of a 2-year school is much less daunting than that of a 4-year school, and many 2-year schools offer great networking opportunities and chances to grow as a college student in a 'safe' environment, rather than be thrust into a busy 4-year school's campus. A 4-year college campus would be overwhelming for my high school senior self, and a 2-year school's low-key feel would be a great transitional tool to complete my college career.

the adive that i would give myself woudl be to get more involved with my high school. i think the more you become familiar with your high school and the peers around you it essential makes you a better student. overall, i would say my failure to communicate with others was a set back, but my I am strongly motivated now to be more involved with the 4 year college that i will attend in the future.

The advice I would give myself is to search more than one college. I would have an open mind and search many colleges that offer my major. I wouldn't choose a college that all my friends are attending to follow the crowd , yet i would venture out to see what college is best for me. I would participate in more community service activities and volunteer in my career interest field to see if that is what I actually want to do. If I could go back, I would have someone that is already enrolled in college to guide me in the direction that i need to go in to have a successful college life. Any opportunity that I had to visit a college campus, I would take that opportunity to get a feel of what that college life could possibly be like. I would do many thing different so that my college experience would be a little less complicated.

I would tell myself to learn good study habits. Even though high school seems easy and you don't think developing study habits is important, college is a completely different world. Your study habits are key to being successful in college. Also, learn how to manage your money and focus on what is important and not what you are going to do that weekend.

I really appreciate the small setting that Francis Marion offers. I feel that the smaller the classes the better education we students receive because it is easier and more likely that we will get one-on-one help from our teachers.

It is valuable to attend because it is a new learning experience for me.