Georgia College and State University Top Questions

I have learned to be more responsible and how to be more independent. While being here, I have learned so much more about myself. While being financially dependent from my parents for 2 years now, I have learned how to handle my money so I am able to pay for my education and still eat! While I have have had a rough couple of years, I would never change anything about those years because they have taught me so much. While I have gained so much knowledge with the classes I've taken, I have also gained so much in knowledge of myself. I feel as though I am going to be so much more prepared for life when I graduate than most of my friends who are still financially dependent on their parents. I may not have the easiest college life, but I am getting way more out of it than the average student.

I believe that college has allowed me to broaden my view of the world. It has taught me to question the world I live in and that it is perfectly acceptable to question your beliefs. It has put me in a situation where I am able to interact with curious minds much like my own. I feel that college is a necessary stepping stone that should be in everyone's life. It not only gives you the tool's you will need to succeed in life but it also gives you an important opportunity to grow as an individual.

It was a pivotal moment in my life; that few seconds when the binding of an old book creaked as I opened it. Suddenly I had been taken in by a new world. At 5 years old we can?t discern what will become of ourselves. I however, had. The day I read Jacques Cousteau?s ?The Silent World? I was simply a little girl that was fascinated by the sea and knew I would one day become a Marine Biologist. Today I am 19, a single mom, and a full time 4.0 college student. I have since matured, but have never lost sight of my dream or stopped working towards it. Attending college has opened my eyes to the world, teaching me that all organisms from single cell amoeba to humans are unified and dependant on one another. When such relationships are damaged all species suffer to some degree. Learning this sparked more determination within me to continue my education and research how people can live symbiotically with the environment and restore the damage already done, particularly in the oceans as they contain more species than all terrestrial areas combined. I will make a change in the world.

So far, from my college experience, I have learned to become much more independant. This skill is going to be one that I can use in my career and will be very valuable. I have also learned to take initiative in my studies and interactions with my peers and teachers. One of the main focuses in my program has been on hands on experience which has really helped show me that I have made the choice for my career, and also help those who were unsure to decide before they were a few years into school. I've had to work much harder in college than I did in high school, which has taught me time management and organization as well.

During my college experience, I have learned academically; however, I have learned on a higher level as well. I have had to work hard for things. Although I come from a middle class family, they have not helped me with my education. I have struggled to get to where I am now. I have learned to appreciate what I have, what I am given, and what I achieve. I also know the benefits of hard work. I used to be a very shy person, but attending college has helped me overcome this. I have made many life-long friends and have also met my fiance.

College, for me, has given me a new understanding and appreciation of life and all the options I have been blessed with. College is where I have become the confidant, intelligent woman I?ve always wanted to be. I have worked as a Resident Assistant for three years while studying and this job has taught me how to juggle papers, tests, friends, family, clubs, meetings, programs, paperwork, and other work with my job with grace and confidence. I have become heavily involved with my campus? women?s resource center and have now received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for putting in over 100 hours of service. I would have never gotten involved with these now lifelong passions if it weren?t for college. I cannot put a dollar amount or even words to the impact that four years of college have had on me. I am not, and never will be the same person I was when I first walked into Georgia College and State University.

I have definitely learned more independence. I have learned more about living in the real world, and I'm starting to learn how much things cost in general. I have been learning time managment also. I have had to learn how to separate time between school and friends. My dad always told me work first and play later and I am truly understanding the meaning of that. I have learned how to be more outgoing and confident. I have broadened my horizons and learned to make friends out of my normal friend group. I feel like it has been valuable for me to attend GCSU because I wouldn't have learned these things anywhere else. There is nothing like the college experience, it really is a special time in life. You learn to live with other people and constantly experience new things.

I love this school! I have had great academic success and extracuricular success as well. I am gaining experience that will be needed in my profession in the future, and I also am gaining a lot of life lessons as well. I have been able to push myself to heights that might not have been available at other schools and/or not conducive to accomplish at other schools. I feel more confident than ever to step out on my own and start my career in a few years, and I feel like my college experience overall has made this possible. I am looking forward to great things in my last two years at the school, and I know that I am never going to look back and regret my schooling experiences or attending college in general.

I have learned much about people that have opposite views as I have. I have learned how to deal with intense political opposition and how to take part in intelligent political debate. I have learned when to speak out and when to bite my toungue so I don't ruin my chances for success.

If I could go back to myself as a senior in high school, I would tell myself to work harder in the last year so I would not have to worry so much about reaching the HOPE scholarship in Georgia. I would also tell myself to not be afraid to speak up in the classroom but also to learn to be slow to speak in times outside of the classroom. Another thing I would tell myself would be to make sure I would study more than a day in advance and to make sure to get all of my work in time so I would not have a lot of stress when it would come to a test or finals. Lastly, I would tell myself to be myself and not to act like anyone else, so people will accept me for who I am.