Missouri University of Science and Technology Top Questions

If I could give advice to myself as a high school student I would tell myself to be skeptical of people as I venture out on my own. I would also tell myself to be more confident in myself and academic abilities and not let other people make me feel inferior to them because they came from larger high schools than me. I would also tell myself tohave a better attitude about doing track and field as a collegiate athlete and really enjoy the time I have to run and the memories made. The last, and most important thing I would tell myself is not to try and please anyone or worry about being judged by them. Do what you want and what makes you happy, no matter what.

I would tell myself to not worry or stress so much in high school because I am going to end up going to a community college, which is so much cheaper especially if I was undecided on what my major was going to be in High school! I would tell myself that what I am learning now in high school is only half of what I am going to be learning in college; therefore, shouldn't stress myself out so much on the hw because I am going to be learning it again as a review for most of my classes. I would also tell myself to maybe think about taking classes at my college as a senior in high school just so I can get a head start on my General Education and maybe even Major classes. Those are some of the pieces of advice I would give myself as a senior in high school, I probably wouldn't listen to them because I am stubborn and like to learn things my own way, but I would consider them.

I enter my bedroom to see myself hard at work on the 16th and final scholarship I applied for during my senior year. My face is contorted in an unattractive way, focusing on the blank Word document on my computer screen. I spin myself around in my computer chair and stare straight into my own eyes. "Calm down and breathe a moment," I say, "I know it can be stressful thinking about college, but everything will turn out all right. Your strong work ethic is to be admired, but sometimes perfection cannot be achieved. Always try your hardest, but don't be afraid to relax and do something you love. Get involved in college, but make sure you join at least one club you'll truly enjoy participating in. Be more outgoing and willing to make new friends. If you smile and have a positive attitude, things will surely work out for the best. Also, be eager to help others because one day they will probably return the favor. Hang out with people that have the same goals as you and surround yourself with positive influences. Keep your ultimate goal in mind, but don't be afraid to have fun."

Looking back on my senior year of high school, I can recall worrying over my future and how I would keep in touch with friends and family as I embarked on an unknown journey away from the ones who, up to that point, impacted my life the most. Now that I have experienced life after high school, I want to give my senior-in-high-school self some useful truths about college. The first truth I would tell myself is to learn good study habits. The transition into college will be tough, classes won’t always be easy, and good study habits can be the difference between how successful you are in classes. I would tell myself that yes, leaving your family and friends will be hard, but the friends you make in college will become some of the closest people to you. Lastly, I would tell myself that it is not necessary to know exactly what you want to do with your life when you haven’t even been exposed to all the opportunities available yet. See what is out there and what you enjoy, because finding a career that you love is the most important part of college.

College is a transitional phase between adolesence and adulthood. The sooner you realize this, the better. It will require a lot of work, a lot of forward looking, and a lot of focus. But keep the end goal in mind. All the things you complain about in high school are nothing compared to the problems you will face in college. The struggle will be real. However, you can and WILL succeed. You have a very supportive family standing behind you, watching as you climb the mountain of success. But there is a reason success stands at the top of a mountain and not at the bottom of a hill. You will feel down, but you just have to pick your head up and look back to where you came from and turn and face the world. You will make new friends and lose old ones. The only thing that can hold you back is yourself. Do not be afraid to ask for help! There is always someone available to help, you just have ro reach out and reap the benefits. College is about discovering your true potential, now go out there and explore, pioneer, fail, and then succeed!

You didn't have to work hard in high school, and everyone you know has told you that you're going to have to put in a lot of effort to keep up in college. Well, I'm here to tell you that I've already made it to the end of my first semester, and you will have to crack open that Algebra textbook (The very same class you thought you knew so well Junior year) far more often than I feel comfortable telling the past me. Buckle down dude, your first semester will be a light one, but you can definitely handle a heavy course load if you apply yourself. I would know, we're doing the maximum allotted credit amount next semester. Brace yourself dude, you're going to have a lot of fun in college. And leave the Letterman Jacket at home, you'll thank me when you're my age!

My senior year I would have called myself "good at school." Notice I didn't say a good student. You see, in high school I could flip through my notes twice the night before a test and get an easy A. It came naturally and I didn't need to put forth much effort. I didn't become a good student until I got to college and was forced to learn to study. Honestly, I had no clue how to. I wish I had taken the time to go through the actual process of studying (even if I didn't need it). I would have found my first semester of college much less of a shock. Instead of being an excellent student at an average school, I had the brutal wakeup call of suddenly being average at an excellent school. I've found with working on campus transitioning high schoolers that it's the case with many, and sometimes realizing that truth is hard to handle. To all of you seniors out there: learn how to study and practice it often. Also, you're just as smart as you were in high school, just being measured against higher standards.

Do not stress. Your college experiance will be great. You'll have time, you just have to learn to spend it wisely. If you're in your dorm doing homework and just can't figure it out, then take a break. If you have manage your time wisely then there will be time to finish it later. There is plenty of distractions around, and they can serve you well, as long as you don't get to caught up in them. Go ahead and go bowling on a Tuesday night, or golfing on a Wednesday afternoon. One important thing is to not skip out on your plans. Stick with what you decided to do that morning. Best way to do that is to make a list each morning of what you are going to accomplish that day, and be sure to do it! In college you will make many friends, whether you try to or not. Just look around the dorm on your floor, or maybe hang out in the lounge. If you need help, ask. Everyone loves to help, and show that they understand themselves. College doesn't have to be hard if you don't want it to.

Do not be afraid to let go of high school. High school was amazing, with great teachers and the best group of friends that anyone could ask for, and it is extremely nerve wracking to think about having to leave this whole life behind in just a few short months. But, believe it or not, you will find a new group of friends that will quickly become your college family. No, you won't end up sitting alone in your dorm, as feared, but you will get to hang out with some truly amazing people every day. Sure, you will miss your old life at first, but moving on and starting anew will be much more beneficial to you as a person. You will finally be able to grow and figure out who you really want to be, free to discover the world for yourself. It is ok to move forth into a new chapter of life. Don't dwell on old memories; make room for new ones.

Get more scholarships and apply for a cheap school. The big schools are nice, but the cheaper, atleast for the first two years, the better.

If I could go back I and talk to myself as a highschool senior I would further push going to communtiy college first. From seeing what other underclass men/women go through I would highly recommend going to community college first. School charge an outrages amount for food/living which is what I was able to avoid. Truely, I would not change anything if I could go back. I'm proud of all my decisions that have lead me up to this point. As of advise, I would tell myself to spend even more time with family because I sure do miss them. Being homesick happens to about every college student

The most important part of the transition to college life lies in recognizing and adapting to changes. This can be change in your environment, social life, academic workload, or anything else that has become part of your daily routine. Failing to adapt to change may cause anxiety and stress, which will cause your grades to take a hit. For example, going from life in a spacious room to sharing a small dorm with a stranger is a significant change in environment, and this can make it difficult to get work done. Overcoming this may mean leaving the dorm room for several hours a day to work with study groups, or it may mean planning times to do assignments alone in your room while your roommate is in class. During my first semester of college, I found it hard to concentrate in my room, so I eventually adjusted my routine and began working in the library. College requires more studying than high school, so find a place you can work comfortably. There will be change, and it is vital that you embrace it and find ways to become comfortable with it.

I would tell my high school self to not forget the minor details of life. Especially in this generation of extreme fun and thrill seekers, we often travel the road of life for the next big rush. Everything we do, we are constantly seeking that adrnaline rush. Whether it is winning a championship or scoring the highest grade in class or being first chair in band, we are constantly searching for that one awesome experience. In doing so, we often overlook the small details in life that leads us to that point. We often rush to grab a burger or pizza instead of eating a healthy meal. We stay late into the middle of the night instead of getting a full night's rest. These bad habits eventually catches up to us in the end, and we find ourselves physically out of shape, and mentally drained because we neglected the minor details that will allow us to be sharper physically and mentally. Our young body is capable of such neglect, but like any living being, the neglect can only be tolerated to certain points. Take care of the little things in life, and they will take care of you back.

High School Self, The most important key to succeeding in college, is make a goal orientated plan and stick with it. The best advice I ever received was “You can accomplish anything you set your mind too, with hard work and dedication anything is possible.” Never give up! Always work hard, and try to understand everything with the best of your ability. High school is the easiest part of schooling and don’t take anything for granted, obtain all the information you can, create efficient study skills, and build intermediate work skills. Make sure you have a strong support system because they are your backbone for when you want to give up (Trust me, it gets HARD). After getting settled into the college lifestyle don’t get caught up in the social aspect of making friends (that comes with joining organizations), get involved, build a support system, study hard and make lots of network connections with in your first years. College is the best years of your life, but only because you take everything you learn and apply it to the rest of your life. So have fun, but not too much fun!

If I could go back in time, I would say to forget the spring job and continue going to track to attempt for a scholarship for college. I would also say to focus more on achieving a 4.0 GPA, because it was definately possible. With those two things accomplished, the struggle to get financial aid and other scholarships may have been easier. Rather than putting down the book for the personal enjoyment of video games, focus on the book. If school work was taken a little more seriously in high school you could've also taken more college credit classes in order to be further ahead in your college career. Use sports and studying in order to further your chances for more financial aid to help you to be more successful in the future.

I would tell myself to take as many college credit classes as I could. I would say to do summer school and keep preparing for college study wise. I would force myself to fill out more scholarships, and try to be more involved in highschool to prepare me for more time management skills. I would ask myself what I really enjoyed doing and make sure that I could make a career out of it. Making sure that I am happy and enjoy what I do will make college and life much easier.

My High School self would spend hours thinking about what college would be like, anxious about what lied ahead of her. I would firstly ask her to calm down because Missouri S&T turned out to be much better than I had expected. I was anxious about my housing situation and whether or not I would be able to make friends. Fortunately, I immediately fell in love with the community I was placed in, becoming friends with the people on my floor pretty quickly. I would also ask my High School self to start getting into the habit of doing things on time. In order to stay on top of all the work in college, you have to work regularly and diligently. College courses, especially engineering courses can take up a lot of time and its important to stay organized. Another huge concern I used to have was becoming incredibly homesick. Although I do miss home, college has a lot of activity going on that keeps me busy and doesn't let me drown in my own tears. Joining a design team has kept me busy and is giving me a great experience. There's nothing to worry about!

If I could go back in time and give college advice to myself as a high school senior, I would advise one thing: stop worrying. I spent my senior year of high school in anxiety, stressing over fears of college - how difficult it would be to succeed academically, meet new friends, and live in a new place away from home. I can still remember my last week before I left for college; I felt extremely terrified, as if my life was about to end, and I was barely able to sleep. When I finally moved into my dormitory and my parents left, I was lost; I was alone in a foreign world without any friends. This negative attitude continued for several months; I barely spoke to anyone. However, as time progressed, I began to realize that college isn't so bad unless you make it that way. There was nothing keeping me from having a good experience except for myself and my high school opinions that accompanied me. I changed my attitude, and I became involved in extracurricular activities, making friends. So, to prevent the bad first impressions of college, I would advise my high school self to stop worrying.

I remember the first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday. I remeber thinking, "I'm READY", had my pencils, crayons, scissors, and mind by me. Then I walked through those exspansive metal doors to a world unknown, I wasn't ready! I saw hundrends of other boys and girls who like me, didnt know a single face there. Terrified is the only word that could describe my state of mind, and body. I quaked and slowly walked, and then tears began to flow down the slope of my innocent cheek... Fastforward to walking into my first lecture at University, and I can tell no difference. If I could give my senior, niave, self one word of advice it would be, "RELAX!". College is going to be walking into a world unknown, but that world wears a mask. Lift that mask, though, and the endless light of oppurtunity will blind you. Keep your chin up, because just like those first days kindergarten when you thought you weren't ready, you actually were.

That is simple; I would tell myself to find some way to get into a better high school. I grew up in small town Missouri practically an hour and a half away from any major city. Even though I took the hardest classes available in my school and graduated Valedictorian of my class, I was extremely ill-prepared. My school didn't even have a basic trigonometry or a full calculus class. It was a complete joke. I practically wasted 4 years of my life getting held back by my school system. My parents would have loved to have gotten me out of there if it would’ve been finically reachable. My first two semesters at Missouri S&T were horrible when it came to classwork. I spent nearly every week night with a tutor or study session with others. I have been playing extreme catch up my whole career at college. It has been a struggle but in the end it will be worth it, and I will do whatever I have to make it.