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.

I would tell myself the exact thing that I did. I used to be shy and I told myself to just be friendly and open. I went into college with the mindset that I would introduce myself to everyone I met, and try to be as friendly and open as possible. It worked very well. I made a lot of friends within the first two weeks, and I'm still friends with them going into our third year at college. I still even keep in touch with people who are Alumni of the school.

I would tell myself to trust myself. I had a lot of problems with classes at the beginning of college becaues I did not trust myself or have confidence in myself. I would know the correct answer in my head, but I would never take the risk and raise my hand. The best advice I would give myself is to take risks. When you trust yourself and take risks, you learn. Mistakes are a crucial part of gaining an education. I have learned more from my mistakes than my sucesses and I don't regret any of my mistakes. By being too conservative, I missed opportunites. When you take risks, you live. It is better to fail than to never take a chance at all.

My high school self would have liked to know a few things about college life. For example, don't give away your roomcode if you don't want your friends running into your room at 3 AM screaming. Avoid sunday night showers that haven't been cleaned since friday morning. Essays definitely shouldn't be written 6 hours before they are due. And finally, boys only have two things on their minds: sex and the amount of money left on their meal plan. When you're caught up in the excitement and anxiety of transitioning into college these are overlooked. You might also overlook crucial pieces of the "Big Picture." Like the importance of finding friends you can party with on saturday nights and respect on monday mornings. How you shouldn't waste any weekends but you shouldn't get wasted every weekend because you're only a freshmen and you should respect your body. How procrastination will get you nowhere but exhausting all-nighters. How boys will break your heart if you aren't careful. College isn't just education for your future career, its experience for the rest of your life and not to be taken for granted.

In going to college, I have gained a new appreciaton for learning. I did not enjoy high school that much, because it was fairly easy, and a lot of time was spent doing "busy work", work that does not require much thought, and only take up time. On the contrary, college does not involve busy work. So much of my college experience has been spent actually learning rather than just copying answers out of a text book. There's no such thing as busy work in college. You listen to lectures, you have to actually learn the material, and then you are tested on it. I have learned so much more in one semester of college than I have in four years of high school. In addition, my social skills have improved because I've had to make new friends. On the first day of school, I was out of my comfort zone. I did not know a single soul, and I really had to make an effort to put myself out there and make new friends. It was something I had not done in such a long time, and it was challenging, but it was worth it.

I suppose most of what I have learned from Saint Anselm isn't academic, though the academic experience has overall been excellent for me. Instead, I have learned what it means to be a member of a community, occasionally in spite of that community's best efforts to separate you. I have grown as a person, learned to stick up for my beliefs and take a stance, and I have solidified my own viewpoints through the challenges of others toward those stances I take. Saint Anselm has taught me how to believe in myself, though perhaps in spite of its actual aims. For me, college has been valuable not for the education aspect—most of the required classes and all of my classes as an English major have no practical application—but instead for the opportunity it has given me to interact with people in a controlled but still free environment. The value of my college experience lies in the personal relationships I have forged, and occasionally severed. I have made friends who will stick with me forever, and learned more about interacting with people than I would have expected. I've learned how to be human—which is invaluable.

As a person with a learning disability, I was doubtful, and unconfident that I would have ever been able to attend college because of the limiting set backs I had experienced all through out grade school. When I finally went to college, I realized that that only I could cage myself if I allowed it. I had made it through my first year with excellent marks and realized that I can succeed if I believed in myself. I have gained alot of confidence, self worth, and more importantly, hope for the future . I am attending my second year, the first in my family to attend college. My family is very proud and I am proving to all those who ever made fun of me and doubted me that anyone can succeed, that if you work hard enough, you can do whatever you want. I used to hear that in high school and thought the saying “You can do whatever you want if you put your mind to it” was very corny and unrealistic, but I know now that it’s true. I'm excited to go back. Attending college has change my mind set for life in many good ways.

I cannot thank the Saint Anselm College community enough for giving me all of the tools necessary to fulfill a successful and happy life. I cannot believe how much I have matured from the timid and insecure freshman moving onto campus just a few years ago. Saint Anselm College prides itself on the strong sense of community, derived from the Benedictine roots. Through this community I have gained the confidence needed to reach my personal goals. One of the policies of the college is anti grade inflation, which has given me true feeling of satisfaction for the well-earned grades I receive. As a liberal arts college, Saint A’s has a nationally recognized humanities program, “Portraits of Human Greatness”, which has given me the opportunity to analyze and reflect upon what it really means for a person to be ‘great’. Through my philosophy and theology requirements, I was able to contemplate aspects of life that I would have never touched upon in my biology courses as a Biology major. I have been blessed with a foundation upon which I further grow and mature in my future endeavors. The value of my experience at Saint Anselm College is irreplaceable.

Since I have been attending college, I have gained many friends and a lot of wisdom that is invaluable. I am making a way for myself in the world with the knowledge I have obtained and I will use my skills to provide a better life for my family.

College has been beyond what I could have ever imagined. I went to a very good private highschool and thought that I could never get an education as great as that, but I have at my school. I have a passion for the humanities and feel that I am learning truly about the human condition. I believe that everyone should study the Great Books in order to fully understand the past, present and future of the human experience. Not only have I found that I am gaining valuable knowledge and work ethic, but also some great friends that I wouldn't have been able to live without.

My college experience has led me to become more independent and it helped me figure out what I want in my life (both career and personal goals). Participating in community service oportunities at my school has opened my eyes to public service. I now see that gving back to the community is important and want to do so even when I am a lawyer. When I vonunteer with other students, it increases our sense of community and the friendships I will have forever.