Saint Anselm College Top Questions

Dear High School Brad, Currently you are probably very concerned about your upcoming transition to college this fall but I am here to assure you that you will be fine. You are probably concerned about your friends and losing touch with them. To be completly honest about that, you are going to lose touch with most of them, but don't you worry because you are going to meet plenty of new friends here and will become close to them very quickly. I know how much you enjoy doing as many things as possible, but believe me when I tell you that you need to learn when to cut things out and when to say know because contrary to what you believe YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL! It's okay to tell someone you can't do something because they'll respect you more and you won't dissapoint those who you told you would do something that you can't do it then. This is going to be hard for you, I'm just learning now but it will be good for you. Good luck in the future, College Brad

If I could go back in time and have a conversation with my high school senior self, I would tell myself to worry less and care more. Throughout senior year I started to lose hope, faith, and my passion for many things. Often times I felt lost and alone. I had many friends, a boyfriend, I was co-captain of the cheerleading team, I had a wonderful summer job, a loving family. Though even with all of those things holding me together, I still felt as though I was falling apart. If I had the chance to give advice to myself as a senior in high school I would tell myself that life gets better, that it is not just a simple saying that others say when you feel down. Life goes on, do not worry about the little things, and know that real friends will stick with you till the very end. There is a better life after high school, there is a whole world waiting to be explored, even though at times you can feel lost... as long as you know who you are and believe what you believe, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.

I would tell myself to prepare for the intense schoolwork and studying in college. I would tell myself to keep working hard and to stay focused on what I want out of life. Keep studying, reading, and achieving and someday my dreams will come true. It's as simple as that.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, knowing what I know about college life and making transitions today, I would advice myself to "believe in myself". I have been a strong person throughot all my life except when it came to college decisions. I felt weak even though I had all of my families support. I did not trust myself even when I knew I could do it. I was very nervious about the decision I would make in choosing the right college because there were many things on my cheklist and it was overwhelming to choose from so many. Nevertheless, I would have told myself not to worry and just believe in myself and that I would accomplish my dreams and make the best choices. Thinking about it now, it was very childish of me to worry about it so much because going to many afterschool programs they have all thought me the lesson of how important it is to believe in ourselves. Believing is a key to sucess and we should never take it for granted!

If I could ever go back, I would definitely convince myself to study more and take more AP Classes. One thing that daunts me every night as I go to sleep in my college dorm is the regret of not taking any AP english classes or higher level writing classes. During my high school years I thought that since I am such a science nerd I am going to be majoring in sciences, hence i would only benefit from taking AP Chem and other higher level science classes. Nonetheless, it was my failure to notice the importance of writing back then. Now in college every single time my roommates are sleeping peacefully after only spending two hours writing for their paper, I lethargically gape at my computer screen at 3am as i write for my 12 page humanities paper that I started working for three weeks ago.

I would tell myself that I am going to be lonely, and that is normal. Once I get to school, I will be on my own with no true support system around. I would brace myself for the loneliness and say that it won't last forever because it is not that hard to make great friends at Saint Anselm College. Also, I would tell myself to focus a little bit more on school once I get there because an education takes you further in life than having a fun Friday night.

Dear 17 year old Val, I know right now your biggest goal is to go to school far away from home, but it's really in your best interest to stay! You don't know what your major is or what school you want to go to, so why not just take your general education at Stan State and then transfer when you do know what you want to do? Choosing your major a year into community college will just slow you down! Staying home will make your parents happy, give you time to earn money, and give you a chance to really prepare yourself for the major you do choose (Psychology). You're a good student, and you deserve to go to a university. Really think things through, and don't make rash decisions when it comes to school-- you'll regret it in the long run. Don't waste a single minute! Believe in yourself and take as much help as you can get from whoever is willing to offer it, but keep up your hard work, both in school and at work. You'll survive, I promise. Love, 20 year old Val

If i were to go back in time and be my own advisor there wouldn't be too much I would change or a lot of advice that I would give myself but there is one piece of advice i would instill. This piece of advice would be "to focus on life, be happy and enjoy it while it lasts. Don’t get caught up in the many distractions you will face, take it seriously when you need to and lightly when you have to. Surround yourself with good uplifting positive people."

I think the biggest piece of advice that I would give to myself as a high school senior is to cherish every single moment and realize that time really does fly. Being in college and realizing how fast growing up can be, I notice more how fast time goes by and it becomes almost nostalgic. I enjoyed my high school years but college is a whole new experience that I want to enjoy even more. In order to do so, I think it is important to grasp any opportunity that comes my way and to really take in the whole lifestyle of being a college student. This is the time where you truly get to learn who you are and utilize the tools you learned growing up when it comes to becoming independent and moving up in the real world.

The advice I would give myself in high school would be, the struggles are short and pass. You can do anything you want to do without people bringing you down. You can make yourself proud and to not worry about your parents that don’t care. I am in college and it gives me determination to reach my dreams. I am happy but you can make the future even brighter with better choices. We have a son now, and I don’t regret him but I wish we would have waited. Life would have been more smooth and school-orientated. I found ways to make it work with the odds against me, and you can too. You need to fight to get a career in nursing, because it will help people and make a difference in the world. There will be a shortage of nurses in the future and we need to join the fight to prevent that from happening. The greatest thing we can do is stay in college.