Illinois Institute of Technology Top Questions

If I could go back to give myself advice, I would tell myself to apply to as many scholarships as possible in order to help pay for school. I would say, "do not stress the little things." College can be overwhelming and i would tell myself to just take it one day at a time. There is no need to stress out about everything. I would ultimatly say to myself that i need to have fun and not spend so much time worrying.

Thinking back on the past few months of my college adventure thus far, my high school self definitely could have used some advice from my older and wiser college self. If it could be done, I would tell myself not to fret. Breathe. Relax. Now is not the time to be a perfectionist anymore; this will only create more stress. Do not belittle yourself because of one bad grade, because honestly, you are tougher on yourself than anyone else is. Move on. College is an experience that not everyone will be able to have. Always be thankful that you have this opportunity. While you must take college seriously, it is absolutely okay, if not necessary to have fun as well. You will only be young once. Embrace this and try not to act like the old woman that you sometimes do. College is what you make of it, so make great memories. While all of this may sound cliché and you would probably roll your eyes, take my advice. Trust me, I've already lived through it and learned from experience.

If I could go back in time and talk to my high school senior self, I would tell myself that college is much better than high school. I would tell myself that I need to buckle down in school and let myself know that I am not going to have anyone to hold my hand throughout college. I was a poor high school student, so I would tell myself that I need the best of grades in college to be able to transfer into a four year college. The last thing I would tell my younger self is to not give up on myself because college can be stressful, but there is a better outcome waiting for me at the end of it.

I moved from Egypt to the United States two years ago after the Egyptian Revolution started. As a new student, I was not sure what high school in the US was all about. All I cared about was going to my classes, getting the best grades I can, and just graduate with my high school diploma. After achieving all this and going to college, I found out that there were many steps that I skipped that could have made my college experience not only easier, but also more fun and enjoyable. First advice I would give to myself would be to try and take electives that relate to my major in high school because, essentially, it will be of much benefit to my college career. One thing that I do now in college and I have not done in high school as much is being involved in my community. I am currently a member of four different organizations on campus and I volunteer on weekly basis to help people in need. This is the most thing I would say every high school student should consider engaging in; extracurricular activities because it will defnititely make their transition better.

First, I would have told myself to fill out scholarship applications!!! I thought that my grades were not good enough to get any. I think now I missed out on a lot of money because of my doubt and my laziness. I also would have told myslef to write my homework down. One of the main reasons I did not turn my homework in on time was because I would not write my home work down. I would turn it in a day or two and get everything right, but I would recieve half credit because it was late, which hurt my grade. At the end of my school year I started going in to ask my teachers for help with rasing my grade and completing assignments. I should have been doing that at the begining of the year so I would have told myself that too. Lastly I would have told myself that hanging out with my friends is not that important. I spent most of my time socializing when I should have been studying or doing homework.

Given the possibiility stated above, I would strive to inform myself to take the future more seriously. At the time of high school graduation, I had no positive outlook on my future. I spent three years at a community college, where I frequently changed my mind on what career I should pursue. It wasn't until late in the fall semester of my third year that I met a few individuals who changed my outlook on life. Fellow classmates showed me the wonders and endless possibilities of engineering. I was entranced by the theory which they spoke of, as if a spell was cast on me. These conversations shaped my future and I am now entering my final year at an engineering school. Although my future has brightened considerably, there is still a presence of bleakness. I used up all available funding from the government by exceeding the amount of credits students are allowed. This poses quite a conundrum, as I am currently without means of recouping from such a loss. Therefore, if time travel was possible, I would ensure my future self knows has a clear perspective on what field to study before taking all the subsequent courses.

There are quite a lot of things I would tell my high school self. Most of all, it would be to not procrastinate! I'd tell him, "We entered the college life as ignorant as possible, not knowing what to expect. But now, I realize that when we have questions, we need to get answers. I used to be so quiet, not asking questions even when I didn't understand something; make sure you don't do that, or you'll definitely regret it. I know college life seems like a lot to take in. It may seem scary or complicated, but running away from it isn't the answer. You just have to dive in as fast as you can, and before you know it, the worst will be over." Then I'd pat him on the head and say, "Oh, and don't be afraid to talk to people. You'll make a lot of friends in college, and it's going to be a blast. Just relax, and you're going to be fine. I would know; I'm you from the future, after all."

If I could go back in time and talk to myself, I would tell myself to obtain a goal and focus. There are alot of things that may advert your focus but stay strong. Life happens and unfortunately there is nothing you can do about it. Just make the best of your situation and keep at it. Use 'that' situation as your motivator to drive you to work even harder of obtaining your goal which is to finish school. Look for the end result, it's very rewarding.

If I could go back and talk to myself when I wa a senior I would have a lot to say. First off i would tell myself that I really need to develope better studying skills so that i would not have such a difficult time with classes. I would also tell myself about the endless amount of resources that provide me with help with my classes and other things, and to really take advantage of what is being offered and put out there. One of the more important things i would tell myslelf is to spend the time to fill out a lot more scholarships. Money in my family has gotten very tight since I have been in college. Life for my whole family would be a lot easier if i had filled out and recieved more scholarships. To end though, I would tell myself to make the best of my college years and really enjoy them, and grasp the life long lessons that arise and truly utilize them.

I would tell myself to not worry, and to not procrasninate. I worked slightly harder in my AP Physics and Literature, I would have been able to get a little bit more ahead. I was lazy as a senior, and I should have worked harder. That way, I would not worry too much about which classes I should take to graduate, and focus on learning. Other then that, I believe that I have no other regrets.

If I could give advice to myself, it would be that single sentence. It is a concise statement that I believe sums up much of the best advice that is available about high school and life beyond. I underestimated the value of learning about people and different cultures as a high school student. However, I learned as an engineering student and maturing adult that knowledge of people is more crucial that one may think. High school, college and life in general can be thought of as a never ending course in sociology, and it is a course that should be pursued as arduously as any other course. Many successful and failed pursuits in international relationships, war, science and engineering, business, etc., can be attributed in part to a lack of knowledge and/or respect for people we know, serve and interact with on a daily basis. To quote a meditation from a prose by English poet John Donne, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” In order to succeed in any endeavor in life, we must understand and work with everyone around us.

As a high school student I always did well in classes without ever really being a good student. What I really mean by that is I would not study for a test or quiz in even my hardest classes and still end up with a final grade of an A or a B. My first semester of college proved that I did not gain the study skills needed to survive a tough college curriculum. Unfortunately, my GPA took a huge hit and made me ineligible for a scholarship. If I could tell my high school self one thing it would be learn how to be a student and not just get good grades. Being a student includes studying material even if you think you already understand it. A student wants to be confident in all aspects of a subject and not just what might appear on a test. I had to learn this the hard way but now I am really off to a great college career.

Going back in time to talk to myself senior year of high school, I would tell him to not procrastinate and manage his time well because those are the two most valuables things in college that got me through the year. During the first half of the school year, I didn't have these valuable skills and so school really hurt me during the first semester. I realized how important school was for getting my future job and so I really implemented these skills into second semester and I succeeded better than first semester.

If there is one thing I could tell my past senior self it would be to not worry about the small things and focus on the important things. Concentrating on schoolwork and keeping your friends close are two big goals. You’re going to go through a lot of hard time with your best friend joining the Air Force but you will overcome. You will even better yourself because of it. Even if school gets tough you’re going to make friends that are going to not only back you up when you’re down but also help you achieve leadership spots, notably becoming Debate Club President. Throughout going to college you are going to make mistakes. This is not a burden; this is going to be the best time to learn from it and to improve yourself. Kindness is going to play a giant part of your life. Having the skills to not only receive kindness but to return it with a smile. These next few years are going to be hard but I know you can overcome any obstacle and grow up to be the man our parents want you to become.

Knowing what I know now, I would tell my high school self to enjoy my college career more and utilize the resources that were available to further my education and give myself a headstart in the job hunt. I would encourage myself to take more steps out of my comfort zone and take elective courses that could increase my skills, making me a more versatile version of myself. By encourageing my past self to expand on the vast amounts of knowledge available, I would be able to expand my horizons and potentially find a career that was unexpected. Hindsight is always 20/20, looking back I would have provided my past self with a lot of advice about focusing more on my education. I wouldn't have changed the outcome that brought me to where I am now even though there may have been some bumps along the way. The best advice I could give my high school self would be enjoy my time in college, work hard, and always trust my instincts.

I learned a lot about myself, my capabilities, and my potential after completing my first year in college. I believe one the greatest pieces of advice that I would tell myself is not to let self-criticisms or the criticisms of other people affect you in a negative way. Rather, learn to take away select parts of their comments that are constructive and beneficial to your development here in school and block all judgments that you may think are negative because you ultimately control how you feel. Learn to think in a positive light and have confidence in yourself because no other person will believe that you will complete school and accomplish things except for yourself. Another piece of advice that I would tell myself is to develop a strong work ethic before you enter college. In college, there is a lot of time given to students and a lot of work can be completed in a day if you learn how to utilize your time wisely. Invest in a planner and calendar and develop a habit of writing in them every day. This will allow you to accomplish many things in a more efficient manner.

I would tell myself that school only gets harder and to get good grades while I was still a freshman because having a gpa in the upper 3's will help you land that internship at your dream company and also it will help you attend a graduate school of your choice later on. Remember to study as hard as you play and always remember to work as hard as you can because you only get to do this once.

To disturb the space-time continuum is always a delicate endeavor, but a fantastic opportunity. I wouldn’t offer any grandiose insights or magnificent realizations. The single indispensable parcel of knowledge I would impart unto myself is to act. Don’t defeat your chance and extinguish opportunity before it can even be breathed into existence; if you’re waiting for the opportune moment then you’ve already missed it. So act, act boldly, act swiftly, act decisively, be defiant to the childish fears of rejection, be the wave of commotion that overtakes the stillness in the water, be dauntless in the face of perceived future failures. Don’t succumb to the treachery of hesitation nor give life to the betrayal of pause. Rather than extinguishing opportunity you must stoke it by remaining eager and vigilant to act. When the flames have been stoked and the fire is ablaze remember to exercise caution and if you’re insistent on keeping your eyebrows remember, no matter what anyone tells you, “inflammable” actually means flammable.

The transition from high school to college was a smooth voyage for me. I decided to attend a local community college that offered economical tutition and transferable college credits to a long list of accredited universities. I felt like I had my future college trip completely mapped out and set on cruise control. Which leads me to my crucial advice to my high school senior self. Skip community college and head straight for a four year university! I looked at community college as a financially easy solution to get ahead of my college credits, but boy was I completely wrong. Little did I know that the four year college that I would finally attend would be more financially accomodating then the community college that held me for two years to obtain an Associate's Degree in Science, which doesn't support my architectural major at all. If I would have headed straight for a four year university, I would have been an adept college graduate out in the working field. Instead I'm over a year away from attaining my major goal, a Bachelor of Architecture degree.

Find a job NOW, save ALL the money you're about to make, and then take a year off and travel. Go to the places you see in National Geographic and Planet Earth. If during that time you find yourself missing school, then it is the right time to go College - because you want to! Make sure to do your research, talk to your friends who are completing their first year to see what it's been like for them. Consider financial limitations, look for Colleges with transfer programs that pay you to go to school! Do very well, take your education seriously - you wont regret putting in the extra effort to get above a 3.5 GPA -- it is only a number, but there is no denying it will open more opportunities. Regardless of whether you're in school, traveling or working, make sure to do whatever it is well because it is reflective of who you are. There will undoubtedly be tough times, but remember that the struggles make the summit that much more enjoyable. Be welcoming of friendship, introduce yourself to someone new. Stay humble and stay courageous.