Saint Ambrose University Top Questions

During my senior year I was extremely stressed out about my college decision process. I was worried about being away from home for months at a time and not liking college. If I could go back into time, I would tell myself to relax. I have not had any difficulty adjusting to college or being away from home. I am 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} satisfied with my college choice. And had I not liked St. Ambrose, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. I felt like once I made my college decision I would forever be locked in to that college. Looking back, I know that thought is absurd. Getting involved in extracurricular activities and meeting new people is almost a sure way to increase individual happiness at school. In the end, if I didn't like St. Ambrose, I could have transfered. Luckily, I love St. Ambrose and have zero desire to transfer. I wish I would have stopped focusing so much on things I could do nothing about, like future happiness at the college and the possibility of homesickness, and spent more time enjoying my last year of high school.

If I were to go back to my senior year in high school, I would advise myself to read all the chapters assigned to read at home. This would have prepared me for all the reading in college. I would also speak up more during class. Even though I am active in class discussions in college, I wish I would have had more practice with public speaking, such as with speeches. Now that I plan on being a teacher, I may have watched my teachers more closely, to observe different techniques used. As a student I would have taken more notes, just for pratice, because in college notes are key to success. Outside of the academics, transitioning into college was a complete lifestyle change. I have also been independent , but I also come from a big family. It was different for me to live with only one other person. If I can go back a year, I would have tried to prepare myself more for separation from my family. I would remind myself that college is a big change, and the best approach is to be myself and try to stay as calm as possible.

?When one door closes another one opens?. Graduation brings many new experiences. It allows students to live away from home, gaining independence, it brings a new set of friends and opens doors one never knew existed. However, if one is not properly prepared, the novelty and challenges of college may feel overwhelming. College introduces newfound freedom. It allows students to make their own decisions with minimal influences from parents. It is helpful to remember that the decisions you make will follow you. It is necessary to make your own decisions but may be helpful to think about the advice your parents may give on a subject, to help you make your own decision. Unlike schooling before when the same group of students moved from grade to grade together and occasionally combined schools college takes students from all over the world. Out of your comfort zone, you must meet new people, make friends, and keep relationships strong with old friends, strewn about the country. College opens many doors but before entering prepare for the changes and know that as important as making new friends is it is also important to keep the old. Remember today?s decisions are tomorrows realities.

If I could go back in time I would tell the high school version of myself to seriously consider the monetary demands of college. I would encourage myself to start off at a community college to finish pre-requisite classes for a reasonable price, and then transfer out to a four year university that specializes in Nursing. I do not think I realized the tremendous amount of debt I was incurring by taking out so much in student loans, and I wish I would have known. I would also inform myself of the amount of effort and time it takes to restore your GPA once you screw it up. When I was a freshman all I wanted to do was have fun and experience the college life. It took a toll on my GPA which required tons of hard work to bring it back up to a 3.84, this is difficult to do when taking extremely demanding nursing classes. While I have enjoyed my college years and try to live life without regrets I would love to go back in time to tell myself how important GPAs are and about saving money starting out at a community college.

One the first day of class you will be overwhelmed with syllabi full of expectations for the entire semester. Do as I say? After you have received all of your syllabi, sit down with a planner and write every due date for every class in your planner. This way you will be able to consider everything that is due every day and nothing will sneak up on you, and you won?t be completely overloaded the night before a due date. Take the time to read over your syllabus, possibly even several times to make sure you don?t overlook anything. This could be vital! You must motivate yourself to work ahead and stay up on your projects and assignments; you never know what may come up and leave you struggling at the last minute to complete your work. Create a task sheet for yourself. There is nothing more relieving than crossing out a completed task! A task sheet is also a simple way to stay organized and on top of it! These simple and easy organizational tasks will save you from unnecessary stress and loss of sleep!

If I could go back to being a high school senior I would tell myself to focus directly on school and less on the social aspect of college life. Freshmen year of college is a big transition from high school and it is important to realize what your priorities are early in life. I would tell myself that school is the most important thing and the social life is for weekends and breaks. It is very difficult to do well in school when you worry so much about what your friends are doing. Always focus on yourself and don't ever make decisions based on other peoples opinions or the fear of not fitting in. There are people out there who will accept you for who you are and go out and find them. I will always live by the quote, "It doesn't matter if your the quarterback on the football team or the most popular girl in school, find out who you are and don't be afraid of it".

I would tell myself to not be afraid. I spent the first year of college in my apartment because I was afraid to put myself out there since i did not know anyone. You have to be brave, it is not until you fully open yourself that you are able to see the great potential you have. If you box yourself up in studying alone you will lose yourself. While grades are very important it is imparitive to remember you must have some social life or you will easily fall into depression, especially if you move states (as i did). The single most important advice i could give would be...Open your mind, heart, and soul. Experience college from every aspect because once it is gone you will either be left with regret or the expirence of a lifetime.

The options in life are endless. Every choice allows for a new twist or turn that will only reveal a new adventure. Though out my journey in life I have enjoyed discovering the different paths I have taken. I would not tell myself specific information about my life because I believe that it was the process of discovering these things that have shaped me into the person I am today. I would instead tell my self to enjoy life more and not worry so much. I find myself now entering graduate school and thinking of all the wonderful times I have had. I have changed my major several time, had my heart broken in a relationship, and discovered who I truly am. Though not all of life is easy I still enjoy uncovering what my future might hold with out information about it.

First and foremost, college is not an end in itself, but rather a means to the ends of acquiring the skills necessary to obtain a good career and, more importantly, improving yourself. Whatever you do, don't lose sight of those ends because, if you do, you will temporarily cease to do your best and your education will suffer as a result. Second, start focusing on finances as soon as possible. The moment you graduate, you will be entering the real world and once you're faced with that, you'll wish you had prepared yourself better. If you do your best on preparing yourself from the beginning then you'll find yourself in a much better situation and you won't regret the outcome. Lastly, don't settle with having only your next semester planned out. Plan out every class you need to take from the beginning so that you can spread the work evenly across all four years. It's possible to pick up a second major in your junior year, but you'll pay for that lack of planning when you have so much work some days that you can't go to bed on time.

Do all of the research that I can about the major I am pursuing. Take my time with the decision to attend a four year right out of high school. If necessary start at a two year college and work my way up just to be sure that major is what I want. Join in as many activities as I can. Take advantage of all the points I can earn in a class.