Oakland University Top Questions

From my college experience, I have been enriched with regards to the number of amazing professors and students I've had the pleasure of meeting, the opportunity to expand my knowledge base with intensive courses, and the freedom to choose whichever courses I see fit. This has allowed me to push myself by taking challenging courses, while still having a base of peers and professors that are willing to aid me with any problems I may encounter academically.

I entered Oakland University as a junior in college not knowing what I wanted to pursue as a career. As far as the upper level courses are concerned, there is a lot of very knowldgable and caring professors that offer a great amount of help to their students. I have run into a particularly amazing, approachable professor who I immediatly was drawn to. He helped me not only as a genetics professor but has allowed me to work in his lab as an undergraduate student developing my liking for scientific research. After graduation I have continued my education and lab work under the same professor, which I am incredible excited about. Oakland offers not only a small and comfortable campus, but the student body is relativly small and you grow to recognize many of the students in your classes as your education proceeds, making for a nice transition throughout the college process. The professors recognize you here, which makes for a nice personable experience. This has made my transition from being an undergraduate to a grad student pleasant and less scary, allowing me to focus learning everything I can.

Go to college with an open, unaltered mind, one which is willing to uphold its values and at the same time leave room for growth and development. If you don't do this, you will certainly miss out on many experiences and people with whom to share your life. Do what you are afraid to do. Be who you are afraid to be. Take the time to discover who you are, there is no need to rush. College is not necessarily a four year endeavor to be over in the snap of a finger. Find your balance with work, school and your social life, that's what it's all about. And most importantly find the balance within yourself, this is where it all begins. Once you have that you are strength undefeatable. Sure there are the times you may doubt yourself, but you push through and strive forth. Most importantly enjoy it. Be able to say I feel good about where I have been, where I am now, and where I am going. I saw my path, but I didn't know where it was going. Not knowing where I was going is what inspired me to travel it.

There is one thing every high school senior should know. High school is not important. When you get to college, no one cares about your class rank, whether you were a starter or bench warmer or with what clique you ate lunch. College is a fresh start.You will not come across many opportunities in your life for a clean slate and chance to reinvent yourself. Take advantage of this. In college, no one knows your past and you?ll never find a group of peers more willing to help you embrace your future. Surround yourself with the people who bring out the best in you. High school is tough. It?s your first introduction to real stress and life-changing decisions. During you senior year, the world revolves around high school. But the world outside is bigger, much bigger, than high school. College is where you life begins. So get involved, be confident (or at least act it), don?t party too much, take a public speaking class your first year and befriend a foreign exchange student. But most importantly, don?t go to college thinking you will find yourself. College is about creating who you are.

I would, first, tell myself to really enjoy my last year in high school. As a senior, I don't think I appreciated how great my life really was. I was blessed to go to a school where my teachers and friends really cared about me as a person. Often, that type of connection to teachers and friends is lost in big college settings. Next, I would tell myself to apply myself just a little bit more. In high school, most classes came fairly easy to me, and I never worried about my grades. I never challenged myself or pushed myself any harder than was required. Now that I'm in college, I'm being challenged more than I ever have been before. Having a stronger background in certain subjects would help out a great deal now. Overall, I would say to have fun and don't get too upset when that high school crush hurts your feelings. He's not as great as we thought.

The most important decision that you will make in the near future is whether to attend college, in order to be successful in the years to come you must have a college degree. I wish I could take that path but, I had a few setbacks and had to have a job right away to support my family. I am currently enrolled in a community college and enjoying every minute. I still work 40-50 hours a week and took on 9 credits this semester, somehow I manage to do homework and spend time with my four children. I wish I had the option to attend school full time but I still have responsibilties at home. It's a challenge but , in the end I know I will succeed. It all comes down to how much hard work you put into it . You must be strong and keep moving forward.

If I could go back to my senior year in high school, I would tell myself to not worry about teh cost of school and to go where I wanted to go. Because for the cost of school, there are student loans. Also to do some volunteer time at local places to see what kind of a career I would be interested in. I would have visited a lot my college campus's to see what other ones are like before deciding on one. Also I would have saved my money for better things to help with the cost of college instead of spending it will nely.

It has been three years since you have graduated from high school and there still so much more schooling to be done. Because you went away to Western Michigan University without a clear-cut plan, you took classes that meant nothing to the major your pursuing now at Oakland University. You?re waiting to get into the Nursing Program; if accepted you must wait another 2-3 years before you even start the 3-year program. If only you would have been more concerned with your future as a senior you would be two years closer to your nursing career. So, my advice to you is: explore all your future career opportunities now; don?t underestimate yourself and your ability & enter college with a plan you are nothing but excited for.

With knowing what I know now about college life and making the transition from a high school senior to a college freshman, I would tell myself not to be afraid to voice my own opinion. So many times in high school I was the girl that sat in the corner, trying to hide behind the raised hands in front of me. Even though I knew the answer to a question, or wanted to bring up another topic, I found myself just reserved to a page. I would not express myself and my intensions until I struck that page. Ink dripped from my fingertips and glided onto the page with ease and enjoyment, and I found myself cherishing the works I had written and created, rather than wanting to share it with others. But since in college, I have created a new identity for myself. I am not the quiet girl in the corner scribbling away on a blank page. I participate, question, reason, and explain. If I could go back in time, I would encourage myself to share what I had created on a page through spoken words rather than written words.

The biggest thing you have to remeber about college is that your grades are mostly dependent on how you perform on the exams, not on how you do on your homework, why because your college professors do not check homework, up thats right you do not have to do homework. But, if you do not do homework, there is a good chance you will not do well on the exams. The biggest thing to remeber when you start college is to stay on top of things, do not let yourself fall behind, the minute you fall behind is the first minute that you are working twice as hard as you would of had to to pass the class. So remeber high school senior, stay on top of school and you will succeed in LIFE.