Hawaii Pacific University Top Questions

Dear High school self,

The advice I would give myself would be to not try so hard to get to know certain people first semester. I handled the college transition extremely well in almost everything, except I tried a little too hard to be friends with some people and I ended up damaging my relationships with them instead. I did make a lot of friends, but the ones that come naturally are the ones that last, and I wish I had just relaxed a little bit more.

I would tell myself that I should trust myself in believing I can achieve anything if I work hard enough for it. To not be discouraged at first because things are different from how high school was. College, especially at HPU, is an experience to take in stride, with confidence and trust in your own ability to become an adult that is both concious of the world and willing to learn from mistakes without fear of being put-down. With an education from HPU, you will become a more able adult and more active in interacting with others without intimidation and learn to become prepared to grab hold onto dreams that can only become a reality if you work hard, keep focus, and not be discouraged. The change from being a teenager to the adult world is not something to fear for if you keep your goals and trust in others, you will succeed.

During my college experience I learned about exploring my potential. College is not just about going to class everyday and doing homeworks but it is also about learning the neccessary skills that are important in our daily life. Being a college student help me gain confidence. I have learned to be confident from taking classes which requires me to present in front of a class to asking instructors for help with school work. I have experienced a few failures in college which taught me to have determination and to push forward with my goals. A failure is only a failure if you do not learn from it. In college, learning does not only happen in classrooms but also in the whole college experience. It is valuable to attend college not only for the degree a person will earn but also for the experience. Having a college degree will give you a better employment opportunity but the experience you gain from college is an added bonus.

I have gotten a sense of confidence and the value and education offers to those who would like to experience the more technical aspect of a career. I feel there is no goal too big to accomplish and have no fear in trying new things. I have found that an education can help you discover what your passion is and also what is not your passion even though you thought it was before venturing down the path towards that goal. Basically, a higher education can help you discover things you never knew existed.

I have gotten an experience here at Hawaii Pacific University that is undeniably one of a kind. I can voucher that I do not go to a conventional college. What other school can offer "Hula" or "Surfing" as course credit? But other than what comes with the perks of being on an island, Hawaii has taught me SO much. I've felt myself grow into a stronger person. I had to learn how to survive on my own. I literally had NO ONE I knew with me. My mother couldn't afford to send me to Hawaii for a visit, therefore the first time I set foot on campus was not only my first time seeing the school, but my first time being in Hawaii in general. I flew in by myself, again due to costs. I learned how to get a job on my own and balance that out with my classes. I had to navigate around Hawaii on my own. I met new people, made new experiences, and came out overall a more dynamic individual. The experience I got from HPU was nothing close to what I was expecting, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

College is such a big tradition to the American culture. From being a high school graduate in a class of 26, it was such a big transition to get use to the college life of Hawaii Pacific University. From my college experience, I’ve got to learn to take more responsibility for myself as an "adult," making the choice of attending class to being pressured to go to parties. The college experience has taught that I am now accountable for my own actions and it is now my life. Also college was an eye opener, showing me that I have to take college seriously for this is my future. It was very valuable to attend college because it is your first step to your career but also it is the beginning of your life. College has shown me many paths and college is the one thing that can help you choose what you want to do with your life. Though I am still a freshmen college has been very valuable both socially and academically. This is the time where you meet your lifetime friends and make a decision that will change your entire life. In all college rocks!!

Emerson College in Boston was the first university I attended after graduating from high school. I chose Emerson because I wanted to be a writer, realizing very quickly that I didn't have anything all that interesting to write about. I believed one way to correct this was to spend the fall of 2003 in Emerson's study abroad program in Europe. This taste of living abroad, traveling constantly, meeting people I could communicate with only through body language and alcohol, affected me greatly. It made me hungry for more, and after withdrawing from Emerson a year and a half later, I spent too long time working at dead-end jobs before finally moving to Wuhan, China to teach ESL. I met my wife there. She encouraged me to go back to school and promised to move back to America with me. After two semesters at University of North Florida, I have maintained a 3.72 GPA and plan to apply to graduate schools for 2012. My college experience has been - for almost ten years - my life, even while not enrolled in school. Without the influence of those three semesters in Boston, my life would be a boring, wasted existence.

My most valuable college experience has nothing to do with college itself (but then, we all know you learn more from actually living than from listening to a lecture). My university is comprised of 1/3 Hawaiian, 1/3 mainland, and 1/3 international students. I grew up in Colorado, which is 98{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} white. Living in HPU's diverse community has changed my view of the world, and of people. Perhaps the most important aspect of this diversity is discrimination and racism. There are many fabulous Hawaiians whom I call my friends, but I also distinctly remember a comment from one Hawaiian: "I hate white people, but I'm not racist." Some Hawaiians do hate white people. They hate us for the past, for what we've stolen from them, and the worst part is they're probably right. But it's still racism. That's the most valuable experience I've had. I've learned what it's like to be hated for the color of my skin, for the crimes of my fathers. There is no such thing as reverse discrimination, it's simply discrimination, and it is always wrong. Knowing how it feels, however, is invaluable perspective.

I have learned that college was a prize to be made not a prize to be won. I chose a college that suited me well despite what others say about my college decision. Although this is just my first semester and third month at Hawaii Pacific University, I must admit that it has been, so far, the greatest three months of learning I have ever received since grade school. The instructors I have are profoundly passionate about what they teach. Furthermore, HPU instructors remarkably do their best to help when students are in need of assistance. Students are free to let the instructor know whether or not the pacing of the lecture is too quick, too slow, or just right. When students are stressing before a test, HPU instructors carefully explain to the students what to know and review what will be on the test. In COM, I have learned that mid-terms, finals, and other tests are a “celebration of knowledge.” With that in mind, I became more excited to learn about new concepts, new lessons, and further my knowledge than simply skim at through the surface of new ideas. I value beating the deadlines instead of meeting them.

I have gotten more confidence in my abilities to perform well in a harder academic situation. I am very grateful for this and all the opportunities I am now presented with everyday. It has been valuable to me because I had started to doubt myself academically even though in my last year I recieved a 4.0 GPA. Now I am confident in my abilities and am moving more towards my ultimate goal.

Education is the most important thing my parents taught me to be the only treasure that cannot be stolen from me wherever I go. My college experience taught me that no matter how old or how young an individual is, it is never too late to get an education. No matter how you look like and what color is your skin is, you have the right to get an education and be better person. It is valuable to attend college because my experience helped me gained diverse perspective of looking at life differently. It is not only about books and learning skills but is also taught me the lessons of life through relationships, teamwork, individual uniqueness and camaraderie. It is valuable to me because it cultivated me in developing my values, beliefs and virtues. It paved a way to make my dreams come true and enlighten me to understand everything around me. It establishes confidence in me that I can face life with decisions and accept success and failures as part of living and know that learning does not end there but is a lifelong process and still continues until I am breathing.

I have become a very independent person since I have started college. I have learned how to write a twenty page paper, which at one time I thought was next to impossible. Since school has started I have developed good study skills and time organization. I have learned that I not only want to major in Psychology, but also major in Justice Administration. They both are extremely facinating to me and I want to make a different in many young peoples lifes within the court systems. I feel like I would become a great child psychologist.

I have gotten a lot out of my college experience at Hawaii Pacific Health. I have learned so much about life, our community, and global issues from my professors. They have taught me so much over the past few years. My professors taught my how important history, national news, the economy, politics, and etc. is in the social work field. I have met great faculty and the other students in my class are wonderful and caring. Every professor that I have all care about how we do in school and are always there for the students if they need any help at all. They do not want to see us fail and to have the professors look out for us is a motivator to do really well in school. I have attended many different schools in different states and I can honestly say that I have never felt such a part of something that will affect our community in a positive way. I would recommend other students to attend this school if they are looking for diversity and small class size with professor that look out for your best interest.

I attended Hawaii Pacific University for my Bachelors in Computer Science and I attended Charminade University in Honolulu for my Masters Degree. My college experience coupled with my professional experience as an active duty United States Air Force airman was invaluable because it extended my learning well beyond my current life experience and pushed me to reach my fullest learning potential. The Computer Science program was extremely valuable becasue it allowed me to re-engineer my skills and I prepared for my transition from the United States Air Force and the Masters Degree, an MBA prepared me for the application of business as I transitioned from military to corporate experiences. Both my degrees, a technical degree in computer science along with my MBA gave me a much needed advantage in the workforce and greatly enhanced my resume for a second career immediately upon retirement in 2001. It allowed me to position myslelf for greater advantage in the career force, helped me achieve unbelievable heights in my own learning potential and challenged me to reach higher heights. I now hold an Excecutive Management position with a major defense contractor focused on computer sciences and I have also become a lifelong learner.

The college life makes the young people to mature. The college is the border between the youth and maturity. When I got in my college for the first time in my life some years ago, I did not realize that I would start a new life that is very different from the previous. To study in college is very different than to study in high-school. When people study in college, they bring greater responsibilities for their actions. Also the college students are separated from their families and they need to control their life alone by themselves because there is nobody to help them. Everybody should helps himself. When I went to college, I became independent from my family and I had to find financial resources to support myself. It was not so easy in the begining because I had relied in all my life only on my family but I succeeded to conform to the difficulties of my new life. Now, when I'm already a graduate student, I feel that this experience that I have passed through was very useful to build my character of a strong person.

College is a dramatic change from high school. Have fun, but understand that your college careert directly affects your life's career. Study hard and work with other students in your field to help through your studies. Your study group will be a great support system, as all of you are in the same boat. Have time with them both in school and out of school. Participate in class/group activities, these times offer some of the best opportunities for learning, even if you say the wrong answer, your classmates will still support you because many of them probably didn't know the answer too. Get your degree now, just do it and especially just finish it!

If I could go back and talk to myself as a highschool senior, I would tell myself to enroll in as many college credit highschool courses as possible and take the highest level of math available to me at the time. Colleges accept high maths as they would college level math and I would have saved myself that hassle of taking math again. I also would tell myself to relax and enjoy my time as a senior and not to grow up so fast. Graduate highschool with the highest GPA possible so that you can obtain some kind of scholarship to help take the financial burden of your parents as well as yourself. I would say: "Brandon, relax, enjoy this last year of highschool and when you do get to college, go full-time, year round, and hit it as hard as you can!"

I would tell myself to be organized, collected, and confident. I would make sure that I was dedicated, and tell myself that no matter how hard it may get, no matter how many late nights I will spend drilling myself on science and history, no matter how many times I throw my pen across the room in frustration because I can not figure out the math problem, no matter the tears and the discouragement, I would tell myself that it will be all worthwhile, and to keep going. I would encourage myself to learn what helps me to study the best early, so that I would be prepared and not waste time trying to figure it out. My high school self would need to know that even though I would be making the transition to a new place, I would find friends and have experiences that I would never regret or forget. Above all else, I would tell myself to wake up each morning determined to do my best, and to look forward to each experience that would come my way. Dont go to school with a bad attitude, and you will learn so much more.

High school seniors have difficult decisions to make taking the big step forward toward college life. I feel college is an important aspect on your future goals and career; however you need to be mentally prepared and be ready for higher level of education. College allows placing you in a different mentality and provides you with all the necessary tools to accomplish your goals; you just need to find it in yourself to utilize these tools to your advantage. Responsibility and building a good GPA is the key to success. It will open the doors to many opportunities and advancement to programs and career choices. My advice to accomplish good grades in a course would be to: 1) discipline yourself study time, 2) turn in assignments by the specified deadline and 3) asking instructors/professors assistance or asking questions if there is confusion on an assignment or project. Master writing papers is essential, any course you register for will need some form of paper writing. Having experienced college life, I really hope you will think about what I said and use it to your advantage and you will succed and adjust really well to college life.