Iowa State University Top Questions

Oh WOW, the advice could be endless. I would keep reminding myself of the goal that I want to achieve, and look deep into the future as to not deter my thinking. Yes, it is nearly impossible to not be faced with trials, but i would just tell myself to not let those obstacles get in the way and learn to go around them. Climb that mountain and soar as high as you can for dreams can become reality, and not am impossibility. I have told myself that I will break that chain (that I've been told) of never succeeding at anything. I WILL BE THERE SOON!!!! I have to endulge in the knowledge that I will become a better person through all the trials and tribulations of school work. If anything...I want to leave a lasting impression on my children of the success and accomplishments that will be awarded to me.

I would tell myself to lean how to study better rather than be thrown into it in college. I would have liked to learn how to study from a text book as well as how to listen to a lecture while taking notes at the same time. Another thing I would have liked to know is that it is OK to ask for help! When I got into Physics 1 and Calculus 3 at the same time, I was very stressed and worried and didn't know what to do. After learning about extra time I could have with the TAs and how to sign up for tutoring, I was feeling much more confident in my ablilty to succeed in the classes.

I would tell myself to try to stay in contact with more of my high school friends and to be more open to making new friends at college. I was a little nervous about making the transition because I was worried that I wouldn't make any good friends, which caused me to be stressed out for the first few weeks. If I had known how easy it was to meet new people at college I wouldn't have been so nervous and I could have done a lot more during my first semester to experience new activities and meet more people that just those in my dorm and classes.

Relax, man! As difficult as your classes are now, you have much to look forward to in college. There, you'll take classes you actually enjoy and it will feel like much less work. Hang in there, for there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Always stay true to your goals, and your college experience will thank you for it. You've made the right choice with Iowa State. Yes, it may be far away, but the learning environment is closer to what you need than any Illinois school could offer. Try and branch out from your isolated status and make as many new friends as possible in your first year. Finish up your senior year strong. It will all be worth it!

Your'e about to have everything change. You may not like some of the changes, but you will see that you are starting to become someone amazing. If you can maintain the motivation to succeed and make the decisions that you know are right you will do great things. Fear not, you are never alone. There will always be someone to help you. Don't be to proud to take advice when people give it to you, it's free, and most of the time there's some truth to it. Don't be afraid to change your direction in life, you may be surprised where you end up and how much happier you are there than where you were. Whenever an opportunity presents itself to you, take it, experience is something that you must earn by trying new things and in the end it makes you a more valuable person. Never be afraid to take on a little bit more than your'e comfortable with, this is how you discover that your limits are much farther away than you thought they were. When you wake up in the morning always remember that there is nothing you can not accomplish.

The year was 2009. I had my hair done, my makeup flawless, and I was out the door at 7:15, forgetting half of my school books behind. The school books that I currently think of as my "golden ticket" to success, were--back then--so easily tossed around and forgotten about. That senior year, I flunked out of my math classes as well as my AP biology class (not knowing that in college I had to work an extra two years to make up those fundamentals that I never learned in high school). If I could talk to my high school self, I would say something simple: Learn about how college works. I had no idea (or interest) about the importance of college and how high school classes effected the placement of my college classes. I wish I would have taken advantage of (and knew the long term effects,) of the free knowledge I was being offered in high school, along with the opportunity it was to advance. I also would have advised my high school self about the program that TMCC offers high schoolers, in which you get college credits while enrolled in high school.

As a high school senior , I would have spend more time preparing myself for the college atmosphere by engaging in independent study more often and taking my time to read every word in every text book. Studying is not an easy skill to pick up in college, but if you can get good at it you'll be more apt to succeeed.

Dear high school Lauren, You think your life is pretty great right now, you love it, and you think it cannot possibly get any better. In fact, you are convinced it will only get worse since you are leaving all those great things behind by going to Iowa State instead of following your friends and boyfriend. Well you are wrong. Not only will you have a great time in college, you will have a better time. But first, you need to stop trying to hold onto the way things were in high school. Sure, you had some great times with some great friends, but this is a new era of your life and it is okay to move on. Do not condemn this school just because it is different. Do not let a few bad experiences ruin your outlook on this fantastic place. When your high school life begins to drift away, accept it. Because once you finally do that you will make some of the best friends and memories you have ever had here. Oh, and along the way, you will also learn more than you thought your brain ever could. And that is fantastic. Love, yourself.

I would tell myself to live my life to the fullest and nothing is out of reach. I was more conservative in high school and was an active member of my community, but now I feel like I have branched out of my comfort zone and tried new things. Stuyding abroad was something I thought was out of reach, but I studied abroad for 6 weeks this past summer. I would also tell myself to budget my money wisely and have "fun money" but make sure to budget expenses from school and payments.

The advice I would give myself in high school would be make as many memories as you can. Live life as much as you can because this is going to the lowest stress yiou will ever be under. Branch out when you get to college and jump into the college life.