Oregon State University Top Questions

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that moving to a different city and going to a university won't solve every problem. But if life is taken one day at a time, you can make it through a lot more than you originally thought. Also that many people in college, and life, are two-faced, but as long as you have a handful of close friends and your family on your side, you can survive anything.

I would not have much to say to my high school self. Although I did not do so well in highschool I feel that the adversity that I faced from moving to ethnically diverse schools and recieving a poor GPA benefitted me greatly. I feel that I strive on adversity and without these experiences I would not have become so motivated or stand in the top of my college classes as I do today. Perhaps I would have developed better analytical skills so that would have been my biggest advice. I would like to have been able to analyze documents and write about them. I feel that these skills should be nurtured among all high school students and I am no exception.

Breaking the Habit In life, we go through many changes, some can make us successful, while others can make us fail. But that all depends on how we chose to take action when those changes occurred. As we grow into adulthood, we have habits that sometimes cannot be broken, because we have adapted to them overtime. We can now make the necessary adjustments to avoid further mistakes. The majority of us don’t realize that until we depart from high school. But today I’m breaking that habit as each day passes while attending college. High school, for some of us was the best time of our lives, for others not so much. While attending high school, I wasn’t the most behaved or the most academically pupil there was. High school, for me, was just an excuse to get away from it all. With all good friends, good times, and fond memories it’s no wonder I was little minded in high school. However, if I hadn’t left that jungle I once called high school, I wouldn’t be the man I am today.

If I could go back in time and talk to my senior self, there would be plenty of things I would tell my senior self and do many things differently. Coming into my freshmen year in college; I depended on financial aid a lot in order to pay for school. I am the youngest sibling in my family of three current students and the only one who actually have a chance at getting into Pharmacy School. In order to help my parents out more than I have, I would try to apply for plenty of scholarships. The only person working in my family is my father and he is almost at the age of retiring right now. I have not recieved a single scholarship coming out of high school in 2009. I know that this scholarship only covers about 13{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of my tuition but its still contributing towards my financial aid debt. Besides telling myself to apply for more scholarships, I would also tell myself to focus more on school and how important volunteer work is in college. I graduated high school with honors and as of right now, I know I can be doing better in school.

If I were able to speak to myself as a senior, I would tell my self not follow what the tests are telling you. I came to college as a math major and spent two years working on it before I took a history course. I realized right away that I was not enjoying any of the math courses I had been taking and that my true passion was for history. I had picked math because of all the standardized tests I took in high school. Not a single one of them related to history, and I was basing what I was really good at on the scores I was getting on the tests I took. They all said I did an excellent job in math, and I decided that since I was doing so well on those tests, then I must like it. That wasn't true, and if I had taken the time to look at what I really enjoyed, I would have been able to work on a major I enjoyed for much longer. So if I could tell myself one helpful hint, it would be to base my decisions on my passion not on a test.

I would advise myself to not worry so much about keeping my friends from high school. When I graduated, I was worried that I wouldn't have anyone to hang out with in college. Because of this, I tried to build stronger relationships with people who I hadn't been close with in a long time, merely because we were going to the same college. When I got here, I started meeting and becoming friends with people with whom I had much more in common. Living on campus and meeting the people in classes that I liked meant I developed more meaningful relationships. High school friendships are fun, but they are not the only people who will ever like you.

I don't know if there is any advice I could have been told, to have prepared me more for college life. Last year as a High School Senior, I was told that I need to know what areas of study I would like to take in college, what toilettres to bring to school, where to find text books for the cheapest and how I should act when I'm thrown into this new world. I wish I was told that there is nothing that can really prepare you in taking on this new life, people will give you tools and advice but listen to what your heart tells you. I would have told myself, take a deep breath, do you want to do what other people say you should be doing? The real advice would be: "You have your whole life, what do you want to do with it Chelsea?"

Attending OSU has been valuable, because it has allowed me to dream in a larger spectrum. I decided to get involved in a Cross-Cultural Mentorship program, a leadership program, and the Spanish Club. These three programs have allowed me to expand my understanding, accept the differences between individuals. College is not just about academics but understanding the world we live in and how we can benefit from it.

I have learned a lot about myself the first term of college. I was very mentally and emotionally unstable and unable to accomplish what is expected of a freshman student. The OSU community was so amazing and welcoming. I was able to get counseling, talk to my teachers, make new friends for life, and now have a happy future in my second semester. I am moving into a co-ed business dorm instead of a co-op, getting a job on campus, and taking more fun classes such as Qigong. The university is also doing a lot of remodeling so now this term I have brand new tennis courts to play on. The university cares about their students in all aspects of their life and I feel confidnet that attending OSU will take me severals steps ahead in the future.

I've learned thus far that as long as you're committed, focused, and driven, anyone can go to college and succeed. I may only be in my second semester of college, but being a mother of a 15 month old girl, I've proven to be successful thus far with a 4.0 GPA. College isn't about the experience of parties or drinking games, it's about bettering oneself and holding on to the knowledge you've gained. It took having a child to finally decide on what I'd like to become and that didn't involve being a receptionist for the rest of my life. It's been an extremely valuable experience for my self-esteem because I now know I have the brains and will to accomplish what I want most. It's also been valuable to my personality as well. I've grown out of the shy shell I was in before and have been able to meet some very amazing people along the way. It's been far from easy, but the knowledge and personal growth I've been able to obtain through going to college has made it all worth while.