James Madison University Top Questions

If I could go back in time, I would tell my self to get involved in extracurricular activities and in organizations that were helping people. I would also tell myself to volunteer more and help my community. I have learned that while helping others, I was also helping myself to become a better person. It helped me realize what makes me happy and matters to me the most. I would also tell myself to lead a healthy lifestyle. I found it to be very easy to develop bad eating habits. I quite often would grab an unhealthy snack from a vending machine as my lunch, rather than going to a dining hall to eat a nutritious meal. Perhaps the most important piece of advice I could give myself is finding balance in my academic and social life. I was very overwhelmed by the workload in the first two years in college. I wasn't thinking about how stress was effecting my health and my academic performance as well. Now, I find exercising to be essential part of doing well in school.

It appears this deadline has passed...Crazier things have happened To go back and talk to senior-year me, the biggest thing I would speak on is to stay true to yourself. Yes, college is the perfect place to find yourself, but that doesn't require you becoming someone/something you aren't in order to find the true you. I'm not saying to not try new things, but there is no need to put yourself in situations that are largely unecessary. Also, college prepares you for the next chapter (the real world) exponentially more than high school prepares you for the next level (college). Recognize this. Realize that the adversity you face and the manner in which you handle it can serve as a template for further difficulties in life. Next, deadlines are a very real thing. If you are late, you are late. No high school sympathy will be shown. Again, just another example of how college is preparing us for life in the real world. And finally, as my dad would say, "have fun, but be smart."

I would tell myself not to be as afraid as I was. College is so much different than high school and so much better. College is where you will meet your life long friends and do not get so caught up in staying connected with home. Go into college with an open mind and do not turn back. Emerse yourself into everything that you do and never ever cry during high school because it's too difficult.

I remember when I was a senior thinking, "no one will know me in college and I can be who ever I want." I think while this is true, it is not advise one should follow. High school teaches you so much about yourself. I learned which subjects I excel in and which I should avoid. I learned so much about people and how they will treat you. High school teaches you social cuew that will help you later in life. If I went into college as a totally new person I would feel as though I were forgetting all that high school taught me. The cliche be yourself is really the best option. College is a time where you meet new people and learn even more about yourself. For instance I kow that I am outgoing and quirky. This was not all that applealing in high school becuase I wasnt as laid back enough for the "popular kids." But if I decided to stop being me in college I would not have found my best friends who are just as quirky and outgoing as I am!

I would tell myself to start researching colleges a lot earlier, and to plan things out better. I would spend more time calculating what dual enrollment classes and AP scores would tranfer for college credit. I would also pick a major even if I wasn't 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} sure that was what I wanted to major in for the rest of my college career, just so I had a goal to work towards and I knew what classes I should schedule for the first semseter. I would tell myself to truly enjoy the time I had left in high scool and to treasure every momen I had with my family.

If I could go back and give my high school self some advice, I would have a lot to tell him. First of all, college isn't as strenuous as people say it is. Sure the classes are a little harder, but the main thing you need to focus on is time management. This is something that I really didn't take as seriously as I should have my first semester. You can do well in any class if you just set aside the time to not only do the work, but actually understand the work you're doing. Help is never a bad thing; if you need help go to your professor's office hours or find a tutor. There is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking help. Also, while school is still very important, so is your social life. Find time to be active and hang out with friends. That's the real challenge, trying to be social and getting involved while also acceling in school. Once you learn the balance between these two things, college will be easier to handle. These are the key points of advice I would give myself as a senior in high school.

I'm sure many people would say their primary goal in college is 'to get a degree', but with our vast and amazing access to knowledge, we have the ability to get an education with the click of a mouse. One thing attending college has taught me is that it is more important to learn than it is to get a degree. An education is more than sitting in a classroom and reading a textbook... an education teaches you why it is important to learn. As a musician, I can easily learn how to play the violin outside of college, but being in college inspires me to push my limits and to become a better musician than I ever thought possible. Most importantly, it has taught me that I can do anything with enough hard work and dedication. An education is more than what is in a classroom; it is about applying this knowledge to better yourself as a person. Education taught me that learning is the key to understanding your potential.

I would tell myself to go to summer school to build up college credits before I graduated high school.

If I could talk to my high school self I would tell myself to attend community college directly after graduation in order to save money and reduce time at an expensive university. I would tell myself about all of the scholarship and grant opportunities and encourage myself to get a job that reimburses tuition payments. If I had known these things I would not have been so hesitant to enter college. As it is I am now 32 years old and just now finishing up my bachelor's degree this year. I was smart enough to attend college after high school but I assumed that because my family was poor I could not afford to attend.

Allison, You are about to experience more change in one year than you have in all 18 combined. Please savor and love your hometown. You're moving to Virginia right after graduation and soon, you're going to long for the familiar streets of Linwood, New Jersey. Don't take the familiarty you're surrounded with for granted. It disappears all at once. You worry that you'll never make friends as great as the ones you have now, but I promise: you are going to gain so much and lose nothing. Don't forget that cute girl with the short hair you see at the Charlottesville send-off luncheon in June. You are going to laugh about it after you've met officially, become best friends and much later, fallen in love. Don't hesitate to love her. Your parents are dealing with it and she's so worth it. The bottom line is, don't get hung up on what you've lost with change. Embrace what you gain. PS: I don't think anything I could say could prepare you to watch Erin lose her brother. Spend a little time appreciating Shaun Sless while you can.

If I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be to crave. Crave everything. Everything and anything that brings you joy, calm, peace of mind, energy, adrenaline, and every emotion you seek to fulfil daily. College is about discovering what you love, not discovering who you are. You’re eighteen now, and when you graduate you will be twenty-two. You will still have no idea who you are when you are graduating from college. However, if you wake up every day unafraid to crave those adventures and experiences you love, not even allowing yourself a second to be scared or question your abilities, you will walk across that stage on graduation day and feel more than confident that you know who you are; you will feel free. So, yes, while you’re at school you’ll need to buckle down sometimes and make the grades and go to class. But always remember, you will never get another chance like this. College will be hard, it will challenge you, and it will change you. But if you wake up every morning craving the newness that comes with those changes, you will never regret any of it.

I didn’t like high school because I thought it was not an efficient use of my time for how little I was learning in the vast amount of time. If I knew college was so great, I probably would have been happier knowing hope was near. I am already a pretty independent person, so I did not have any trouble transitioning away from home. I also did not have a hard time with the extra homework and time management problems because I went to a rigorous private school that assigned much more busy homework. Overall, if I could give a message to myself senior year, all I could say is just hang in there. The light is near. Just try to enjoy those last moments of "childhood." Time will fly after that stage.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, the first and most important thing I would tell myself is to focus on what I want to do and not to be afraid to be myself. I attended an extremely small high school (graduating class of 19), and it was very easy to be excluded and very easy to learn how to conform in order to avoid being excluded. Since attending JMU, I have realized that it's okay to have my own opinions and to love who I am as a person. I realized that it's okay to do my own thing. As silly as this sounds, it was a huge revelation for me and who I have become since high school. I would also tell myself to start forming better study habits and stop procrastination before I got to college. As valedictorian of my class, I breezed through high school and was shocked when I came to college and realized that I couldn't do the same. Overall I am extremely pleased with the college experience I have had thus far!

There is nothing I’d like more than to be able to travel back in time and tell myself so many things. Especially when it comes to school. I feel like I’ve done so many errors and now there’s no way I can fix them. Although if I had such opportunity, I would tell myself not to waste time more than anything! To focus in school and to pay attention in my classes. I wasted too much time doing other things rather than studying. I would tell myself all the things I went through and the consequences that came with them. I would tell me all the other choices I had and how it would have benefited me. More than anything I would make me understand the importance of applying to scholarships and doing well in my tests. I would not leave until I knew I had fully understood and make sure that from there on, I would only make good choices that would lead me to a future full of success and very few failures. That would be one of the best gifts I could ever give myself.

Stop thinking you aren't good enough to follow your dreams. You are smart enough and completely capable and you can do it. Yes it will be hard and require a lot of studying and yes you will be broke and hungry but in the end it will all be worth it. I wish I hadn't waited to start chasing my dreams because I would have been able to start making a difference in the world that much sooner. If I had gone to college straight out of high school I could be out there working my dream career, making a difference, helping fight to protect what I love: the unadulterated natural world. I could be saving endangered species and protecting sensitive habitats. Read "Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations" by Eric Dinerstein. It is what inspired me to finally go back to school and go after my dreams. And then make it happen! Don't wait! Don't doubt yourself. You can do it and you can do it now.

The funny part about going to college is you leave home thinking you know everything and you come back reveling in the joy of knowing you know absolutely nothing. The past two and a half years have been this beautiful mess of making choices and overanalyzing those choices and taking the good from each of them. You find out what you are truly made of when you have to find your way out of interesting situations. And if I had given myself any type of advice I may have been too cautious. I may have held back instead of running full speed into this gigantic gaping hole of the unknown in which I somehow found myself. However, there are two things I wish someone would have told me before I made the big move. Hug mom a little bit tighter before bed tonight. And on a completely different note, avoid the breakfast casserole at D-Hall.

All my senior self could say about herself was that she was a failure as a person and I couldn't be successful in college. Students get it stuck in their mind that no matter what they do, college will be hard and it will be impossible to finish. Stop hating yourself. That is the fact. College isn't all those things you thought so stop doubting yourself and just love yourself and love what you do. College is not make there to cry, it is there to make you see that you are a fantastic person who will find people who will love you unconditionally. You learn to live with others. That comes quickly. Becoming skilled in your area-- that takes a little more time. Finding the meaning to life--well, that comes later, but the mean time you will answer a lot more important questions and discover things you never had before. To my senior self: You haven't seen anything yet.

I would tell myself to be prepared. There are many clubs to join, so get involved, and there are many parties, but do not go overboard. There is also a lot of people to meet, so be open and outgoing. Basically, there is a lot that happens in college, so just be involved and make the decisions that will help you in the long run.

Don't stress too much. You are going to be fine. You know good and well that you're going to be stressed, so take it easy. Don't take on too much all at once. You need to pace yourself and not worry so much. You will always work hard. It is part of who you are so don't beat yourself up about a few bad grades. It will all turn out in the end. You're going to do great and everybody will tell you so. Oh, and don't procratinate and try to write important things down.

Knowing the kind of information I know now, I would tell my old self to focus on becoming a better test taker. I would also tell my high school senior self to read a lot of literature. Ever since taking the SATs, I found that I lacked adequate reading skills and ever since devoted my time to doing just that. I have read an impressive 30 books and novels since then, on a wide variety of topics, ranging from relationships, personal development, social sciences, fiction, and American classics, such as This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. I believed my reading skills are now at the level which is adequate of a college student and I feel a lot better about myself. I guess I could say that reading saved me from the hectic external world and has allowed me to focus on the essentials. So if I were to give one advice to my naïve and unworldly self, I would say it is to read plenty.