Iowa State University Top Questions

There are a few things I would tell myself if I had travelled back in time. For one, I would tell myself to make sure not to take Pre-Calculus at 7:30 in the morning. That was a lesson I learned the hard way. The second thing I would tell myself is that life in college is different and hard, but it has its advatages when compared to High School life. First, I would say to save up as much money as I could possibly save. College is decievingly expensive even with loans and scholarships. Second, I would tell myself to work on getting my license. I hadn't really considered a license to be an important part of my life, but now that I see how important it really is, I would tell my past self to work harder and get more serious about getting a license. Finally, I would tell myself to get more serious about school work. I think if my past self were to do all of that, I would be in a much better situation now.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would advise myself to balance my time properly. Time management is critical to handling everything that is put before you. Next, you must remain organized. Prioritize your activities and always have a plan. Know what is important because your future depends on it. In addition,never forget to study if you want to be the best. You must not only know your material, but also gain an understanding of what it means. Lastly, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! Complete your work on time, for deadlines are very important. If you slack off in the beggining it is nearly impossible to catch back up in the end.

Having experienced a year of college now, there would be three pieces of advice I would give myself. The first would be to develop good study habits regardless the difficulty of the class or exam. What I'm trying to say here is that there may have been times where I didn't study as hard for an exam as I should have or how I studied wasn't the most effective way to study. I would tell myself that I need to study notes, readings, and information my teacher provides so I can excel to my greatest ability. The second piece of advice would be become involved in as many leaderships activities as possible. Leadership is an essential tool colleges as well as future employers are looking for from young adults in our world. The final word of advice I would give myself would be to apply as well as be eligible for as many scholarships as possible to help pay for my future education. I didn't realize how much money it costs to finance your education. Those three things would help any high school senior to make their first year college transition just a little bit simpler.

I would tell myself to study more for tests. Coming from high school where classes were very easy for me, I never did too much studying before tests. Then in college I spent countless hours preparing for an exam. If I was used to doing that then continuing to do that in college would have been less of a problem.

I would advice myself that; things may become difficult, there might be times where you maybe find yourself alone to deal with life problems, and solutions may not come as easily. With so much on your plate, just remember that blaming yourself for life problems and using short tactics won’t fix the problems in your life. You need to be willing to use your negatives as positives and move forward. With every negative there is surely to be a positive. Just keep this in mind and every scenario you will find a solution to. Providing for a family, mortgage, and just surviving is more of a challenge. Your challenge will only be to pass the next class with a good grade. Does that seem like a challenge that you could overcome?

I wouldn't tell myself anything different. Community College was super easy and a waste of my time and money. I felt like I went back to kindergarten with the work and teachers. Ok, so maybe I'd tell myself to NOT go to community college. Sure, it saves money, but it honestly wasn't worth it at all. I was so infuriated and put down and degraded by teachers that I wanted to leave and never return. It was a terrible environment and I was learning things I learned in 1st grade. It was insulting. So I would warm myself and say "Don't do community college. Skip it and go elsewhere."

The most important part about making the transition to college is adjusting to the class difficulty level. College classes are much harder than high school and therefore require a great deal more studying. Devising a study plan is extremely important so you study the necessary amount to pass your classes. If you don't begin with a good plan you will fall behind in your classes and it will be much harder to catch up and succeed your first semester. It's an old cliche but, study, study, study.

It is okay not to have a plan, or to deviate from your original plan. College may not be the best years of your life, and that's okay. The next few years you are going to have very little sleep and be under a lot of stress. It will be very important for you to prioritize efficiently and stay on top of the workload that will be thrown at you. This is your time to be selfish and do what is best for you, minimize your worrying about family and outside influences. You control the outcome and as long as you try your best, you will succeed. You're going to want to give up or quit multiple times, but the important thing is to realize that the end result will be well worth the struggle. Keep the end goal in mind and don't be hard on yourself if you stumble a time or two along the way. The best is yet to come, and with a college degree and the college experience behind you, you will be a better person and go on to bigger and better things.

Don't be afraid to jump into campus life completely, there is so much to experience and see. This is the time in your life that you get to discovere who you are, the first time that setting your goals and direction in life is completely up to you. You get to meet so many intersting people, students and professors, some that you will be in contact with your whole life; and the activities on campus are something you definitely don't want to miss out on, and even though there are so many interesting activites and people to meet, the classes will really make you want to learn. So don't slack off on your studies and remember to read the books, because that makes everything even more fun when you know you finished your work already.

I would tell myself to breathe. I would make sure to tell myself college isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The change isn't that drastic, it is a huge transition in life but all for the better. I would make sure I know to brace myself for all the new challenges and experiences out there. I would make myself be open to all other races, sexualities, cultures, and beliefs and not be judgemental. I would tell myself to take advantage of all the resources the college offers, tutors, financial aid, study groups and supplemental instruction, as well as the professor's office hours. I would make sure I know to be careful and meet new people. And most importantly to have fun and work hard.