Shenandoah University Top Questions

First thing I would say is there is no such thing as "good college/bad college". All colleges are good as long as you are good and focused at acheiving your goal. Don't ever let bad grades upset you, instead make it learning experience to improve. Never give up instead find ways to improve. Don't stop living your life, before you know college life will be over, enjoy it along with focusing on acheiving your goal, very important to find balance in life. Learn to priortize things in life. Maintain budget this will help you further in life as well. Be responsible and organized, will help with keeping up with deadlines and you will take this with you for your life. Friends are important. Most important college is not high school, you have to earn good grades in college, so make sure you work as hard as you can to achieve your good grades and goals in college. Don't give up nothing can stop you if you put all your efforts in it.

I would tell myself to be open to experience. I would say that it is important to take care of yourself and make responsible decisions that will better you and your education. As long as you keep an open mind and a level of persistance, you can be succesful.

Julian, Never - ever! - settle for less than 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. Your career and future are in your hands, and the only person stopping you, is you. Aim high, follow your dreams, and never lose sight of your goals. I know you aren't even sure on what you really want to do with your life, but if what music is what gets you up in the morning, have confidence and know you are on the right path. To be honest, you won't even really know what you want to do with yourself when you reach 23, but I can tell you that your love for music doesn't dwindle, but grows significantly with each new day. All this said, remember to have fun! If I regret anything about college it's getting too worked up and stressed with all the work and deadlines. Remember that you need to maintain a proper balance of work and play in your life, and forgetting either will drag you down. Go exploring - hang out downtown with friends or take advantage of the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains and leave the schoolwork back home. You can do this - you have your whole life ahead of you! Sincerely, Me

Dear Josie, During your senior year, you make some of the best decisions of your life. Attending Career and Tech for your CNA and GNA is the best possible thing to do for yourself, you will get an amazing internship and job at the end of the school year. Do not forget to study! I know many individuals have expressed that to you, and you do not listen, but it is the easiest way to get good grades. You are going to be disappointed and not get exactly what you want. You will not get into your first choice school, but everything happens for a reason and you attend the most amazing university, perfectly suited for you to be you! Oh, and by the way, you have already met the love of your life, just tell him! Your senior year is when you learn the most about yourself and life. Remember to be yourself no matter what, and everything will work out for the best! Love always, The Older and Wiser You

I would tell myself to keep doing what I'm doing. I came a long way throughout highschool and made a lot of changes for the better. I would have liked to have put my full effort in my acedemics and done more research on the career I wished to pursue. I wish I had some of the experiences that I have had now just so I knew what I truely wanted to do before I got to college. I really would have wished to got into the three+three program that my school offers and thats definatly one thing I would tell myself to change.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a highschooler I would say; "The beginning has just begun; this is the start of your life. Make it how you want it. Don’t let someone tell you other wise, you can do anything you set your mind to. No matter how hard the work is or how much stress you’re under, you can make anything possible. Don’t let anything stop you. People have knocked you down and you’ve gotten back up, keep getting back up. If you stay down then they’ve beat you. Don’t let someone beat you. Don’t let someone take your hard work from you. Learn from everything around you, because that is what’s going to make you so great when you get to college. You are an amazing, strong, powerful, determined person. Don’t let someone tell you other wise. Believe in yourself...never give up."

All high school teachers said, college professors are not going to hold your hand will not care if you need help. In a certain extent that maybe true, but you are given a syllabus on first day, outlining everything you will be doing and the times everything is due; therefor, there is no excuses. It is responsibility, as an adult, every college student needs to learn. Every professor I had provided their e-mail, phone number, and office hours to talk to them outside of class. You must learn time management and do class work at any free time. And yes, college is expensive. Financial Aid will not pay for your college. There is plethora of scholarships and grants and have to apply as early as possible and take advantage. I told myself I will never attend community college, but I could not afford an university. I had small classes with amazing professors. They are attentive and make themselves available. Remember, it does not matter where you start from, so start somewhere. What matters is where you graduate from.

I would tell myself that you don't have to be super smart and know everything to go to college. You are there to learn not to show how smart you are. If you get degrees in college your chances of making more money are much greater than if you don't. You don't need money to go to school. Finiancian aid can assist you in books, tuition, and even pay you money through out the semister so don't think you are not good enough, smart enough, or rich enough. College campuses have many resourses and many ppl to help you to succeed but you have to look and ask for it. If you want to do well and get good grades, than hold off on the partying until spring break, winter break or summer. You need to stay focused and apply yourself in all areas: Do your homework, study, get a tutor, use the labs, ask for help, eat right, get some exercize and most of all, get some sleep. If you fall behind on your rest, use the weekend to catch up, it matters. Last of all have fun. It's the journey not the destination.

For the past two months I have wished that I could turn back the hands of time, because of what I am learning now as an adult learner. I would have forced myself to study more than to just settle for average. I would have also never taken advantage of time and most of all the resources that funded my education. Since, earning my first degree and working on my second degree in nursing, it is now time for me to purse what I believe I have been placed on earth to do and that is to help underserved individuals get access to healthcare, so that they can also have the best quality of life. So, when I begin to reminisce about my past and feel like it was not meaningfully, I say to myself “everything happens for a reason” and this is what I needed to push myself to the limit to realize that I am much stronger than I thought. I was not mentally ready during my first four years of undergraduate and now I am even more determined to achieve my degree by next fall, praying that the financial issues will not deter my plans. Thank You

I would try to be more responable.

The advice I would give my self is that I should have applied myself more. Before comming to college I should have taken more AP classes and got classes out of the way. I should have applied for more scholariships and tried harder to get more of my school paid for. I do not regret the decisions I have made before college and I am okay with the transition. But, if i could go back in time, I would just tell myself to make more decisions before college and making myself more prepared for the college years. Other advice I would give myslef is that I would have spoke and aquainted myself with many more people to make myself more known at my school now. I basically would have just told myself to get a better head start to be more prepared.

Out of my college experience, I have gotten so much from individual attention. Going to a smaller school and NOT being a number makes going to Shenandoah so worth the cost of going to college. I get better and better in my artistic abilities by the week as a result of such small classes. This has also facilitated the ability to bond very closely with my classmates, and the others in my program. My closest friends in the whole world are the fourteen people in my Musical Theatre class, and I wouldn't trade that for anything. And when we get out into the real world, the fact that we'll all be on the same level, in the same playing field, most likely in the same city makes it so much less nerve-wracking to graduate. The training I'm receiving behind my degree has absolutely been invaluable to me as a person.

I am returning to school to complete my bachelors degree after being gone from college for more then 15 years. I am a mother of three and I work two jobs. Going back to school gives me hope that after I complete my degree, I will find a higher paying job so I can provide a better life for my kids. And I know that as my children watch me attend college, I am setting the example for them of the value of a higer education. That alone will make all the hard work and the late nights worth the effort. But as for myself, I am doing well in school. I have A's in both of the classes I am taking, and that has done wonders for my self esteem. To know that I can tackle a difficult class like accounting despite everything else going on my life and do better then most of the kids fresh out of high school shows me that I have a lot to offer a future employer. I have wasted far too much time worrying about how to provide for my kids, but now I know nothing can stop me.

So far, I have only attended a very large public university, the University of Connecticut, and I have found that what I crave in my education is for my teacher to know my name and to be able to consider my student profile including a relationship I have with them. However, I know that it is going to be much different at Shenadoah, not only because a few people that I know have gone there, but because the sheer number of students at this university is a great deal smaller than at the University of Connecticut. I only wish that I could have known that going to a private university would make such a great difference. I would have skipped the "experience" that is Uconn and would have gone to this amazing school.

Attending college has been a life changing experience. I have grown up and matured so much in the last year because that is what college forces you to do. Also, I have learned how to manage my time and the consequences of not managing it correctly. I know that attending college is a good decision for everyone, even if you hate school it is a good idea to go. When I am done with school I know I will be able to get a great job and get a start on my career. Without a college education my job options would be a lot less than with an education.

By attending Shenandoah University, I've gained a sense of freedom and responsibility. I know that there are certain things I have to do to succeed. Also, that there are certain things that will be presented to me that can prevent me from succeeding. I've learned that college isn't what some people think it is, a time to party. It's really a place to grow into a responsible adult and learn to live on your own. I'm learning how to be the person I want to be and have the job I've alwasy dreamed of having. I want to be a music educator and Shenandoah University is the best place in the state to do so, especially since it is the only conservatory in the state of Virginia. I'm extremely grateful to be attending Shenandoah and I know that as long as I continue to work hard and push myself to succeed, I can accomplish so much here and continue to do so after I graduate.

Talking to myself as a high school senior, I would probably tell myself that I need to really work on having better study habbits. I got in such a groove in high school, knowing how the teachers gave tests and graded that it was one of the hardest things for me when I got to college. There are so many more distractions around college than there were at home and you really need to know how to focus and get your work done. The only other thing that I would tell myself is to enjoy the time I have at home, moving away was also really hard for me, but now I'm better about it. Its still hard to go home and then have to leave, but I just look forward to my career and go for it!

I really needed to know everything I know now about college and the transition from high school to college. The most important thing I would tell my high school senior self would be to work on as many scholarships as possible and to work very hard on the essays. The second thing I would advise is that being involved in extracuricular activties , if only for one year, is so vital to finding out what major you are looking towards. I would advise myself to get involved in my passion for acting with a whole heart and put my all into it. If I could go back in time I would tell myself to charish every second of highschool and to focus on school work and not all of the drama that comes with high school. But, scholarships are very important and not just for college but to help youself out in the future so you can work for a living and not work just to pay off loans. The last thing I would tell myself would be to really think about what I'm good and at and where I can go career wise with my talents.

I believe that I made a good transition. The only advice that I would give myself is to apply for more scholarships and grants. I was not aware of the financial challenges I would go through just to stay in school. I didn't realize all the sacrifices my mom had to make for me to get through only my freshmen year of college alone. I am now aware of all the different scholarships, such as for deceased parents, single parent students, minority, etc. Had I'd known about this stuff then, I would have been applied for as many scholarships as possile. The good thing is that I know now, and I will continue to look for as much help as possible.

If i could talk to myself as a High school Senior, i would tell myself to NOT pocrastinate. Deadlines are very important and if you dont make it, you might not get what you want during the whole getting-into-college process. Giving yourself lots of time before a deadline is crucial. For example, FAFSA application, Scholarship Deadlines, College Application Deadlines and many more. I know I was organized through this whole process but i know i could have done it a little better. Having a planner is good and having a section to keep all important phone numbers. Keeping organized is Key.