Illinois College Top Questions

I have attend classes at my high school during dual enrollment and I feel that this experience has given me the chance to get to know myself better. I have had the opportunity to take some courses and find out some of my interests. This as allowed me to think about the major I want to have and degree I will earn. I have every intention to get a degree and graduate college. I am a hard working and dedicated student that will be the first one in my family to graduate college if my twin sister does not beat me to it. College is very important to me to be able to have a successful future. With a degree from college it would open doors to other opportunities and allow me to have a degree in something that I am passionate about. I believe that more people should attend college to have opportunities for a stable and successful future.

I have only attended college for a year but I have already gained so much from this experience. To really understand what I have gained you have to know that I am twin. My sister and I have been inseparable all of our life. In the fall of 2009, my sister and I set out for two different colleges that were two hours apart. I learned a lot about my self this past year. I always felt that my sister was better at everything. When I got to college, I realized I was the only one comparing us. I found courage in my self to just be the best me. I also learned that I could stand on my own two feet. My parents have been support all my life and though their love and support are just as strong, I found I can make my own decision for my self though the may not always be the best decision. Most of all, I found out that I am a much stronger person than I ever thought I was. To some this might not be a huge gain but to me, I feel I have gained everything.

Through my experience at Ivy Tech Community College, I have learned a great deal about time management, communication, and the value of learning. I have been continually challenged by the experience of a college environment, and I have developed perseverence in the face of hardships, exhaustion, and pressure. I have gained basic knowledge in a variety of subjects, but I also have learned much about people and life through my professors, faculty, and fellow students. As a human services student, I am learning practical skills, such as active listening, reflection, paraphrasing, summarizing, and more. I feel that I am being prepared to effectively support a diverse population of clients. Overall, college has been a rewarding experience.

I have gotten out of my college experience that you have to work hard for what you want. If you want it bad enough you will do whatever you have to do just to get it. I had to work hard to get in to this college and i am really happy to be here i hop that I get to keep all of my friends and make more when I leave.

I would tell myself that acquiring good study habits is detrimental to my college education. Unfortunetly I did not develope good study habits in high school and that has made my college years harder than they should have been. I would have motivated myself to take school seriously and in turn would have gained valuble learning skills that would have helped me a lot in college. The second thing is to be who I am. Don't be who you think people want you to be. If someone doesn't respect you for who you are or what you believe than you really don't need that person in your life. When I was in high school I tried to please everyone and be apart of everything even if that meant me being unhappy. When I got to college I soon found out that the ultimate goal out of life is to make myself happy and not worry about what others thought about me. God brings the people into your life that are suppose to be there and I really learned that going away to college. But the number one thing I would tell myself is, Mom is ALWAYS right!

If I could go back in time to talk to myself about college life, I would advice myself to try my hardest and stay calm. In college the only thing you can do is try your best. If you need academic help you should get it through the available tutoring services because everyone including yourself wants you to succeed. I would also tell myself not to get too stressed about the little things. You have to stay calm, and take what comes to you with patience. Nothing is given to you that you cannot handle; it may be difficult at times, but keep trying and you will be successful. The last piece of advice I would give myself is to value friendships. Since your family is not there with you, you have to lean on friends and keep them close. Be the best friend you can and you will get support and love in return. Friends are your family when you are at school.

The first thing that i would tell myelf is to create good study habits, because in college the studying is a vital part to your success. Also, i would definitely advise myself to work on time management. Time management is something that has to be dealt with every single day, and it is essential that your time is managed well. The last thing that i would advise myself to do is to develop better critical thinking and listening skills. These skills are needed while in class, and are also needed outside of class when doing your homework or writing a paper. There are lots of papers in college, and being able to think to get through them makes it a whole lot easier to accomplish.

If I could go back in time before college and talk to myself as a high school senior there are a couple things that I would tell myself. First, I would tell myself to make sure I study for tests a little each night starting at least a week before the test. College isn't like high school and you can't cram the night before and still expect to get an A. I would also tell myself to make sure you get out and meet people the first week that your at college cause if you wait to long everyone has already formed groups and it is harder to find friends.

I would tell myself to relax, and look forward to the first few weeks--they really fly by! I was really nervous about having a randomly-selected roommate, but we ended up having a lot of things in common, and when it came to some of our differences, we've been flexible about letting each other be seperate people. I've also realized that college offers more freedom socially than high school. When I was younger, I was really shy in school, but lately, I have felt more free to express myself. I think that before college started, I was very apprehensive about all the changes in my life that would happen, but now I realize that these changes and how I've reacted to them have been an important part of who I am. I hope that in the future, I can use this knowledge to relax and look forward to changes in my life. Because after all, I know what it's like to be the nervous freshman, but I also know what it takes to become a confident upperclassman.

If I were able to go back in time to my senior year in high school, there are a few things that I would tell myself to do to better prepare for college living. The first thing that I would say to myself is to be more on top of my homework. I feel that while academically I was very well prepared for the first semester, but I struggled to keep myself on top of my homework. That brings me to the second thing I would tell myself, to be more organized. I was a very unorganized student in high school, and making the transition from being unorganized to organized at the same time as adjusting to college living was difficult. I feel like if I had been more organized, I would have been more on top of my homework, and as a result gotten better grades. Those two things would be the most important things I would tell myself if I could go back and counsel my senior self.