Southwestern University Top Questions

To my former self “Aim for the stars but expect to be standing in a bit of mud”, “Aim for each star equally” and “Mothers are right (usually,75{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}).Having dreams is great but sometimes (always), you’ll get half of what you want. Standards are also great but being picky does narrow ones’ options, which is a bad thing to be before rejection letters. Furthermore, there are those in your life, who love you and give advice and ask things from you that are really in your best interest. You’re young and you may know what you want but trust that being older does mean being a little wiser. The most important message is to try to live a scheduled life. Being a free spirit is great and all but so is sleep. Buy two calendars and a scheduler. Dedicate time blocks for studying, reviewing notes and work for your classes and commitment to these times. Life will be little less stressful, and you’ll get more sleep. I want you to have time to nurture that dreamy, brassy and loud part of yourself. Also when you take leadership positions, you’ll be more effective on campus.

If I could go back and talk to me as a senior, I would tell myself to stop getting so nervous everytime I thought about leaving. I was so scared that I wouldn't make friends and that the classes would be too hard and that I would get homesick every 10 minutes and almost all of those things weren't true. I made friends, my classes are difficult, yes but manageable and while I do love my family, being away from them isn't unbearable enough to distract from other things that I need to focus on. And, just as a joke, I'd probably tell myself that my roommate isn't psychotic so don't worry about that, either.

Hey Ashe, It's me: you. I've come from 10 years into the future to give you some advice. First things first: don't think you need to know exactly what you want to do with the rest of your life right now. You've got so many interests that it feels like you're changing your mind all of the time, and that's totally okay. What's most important is enriching your life with friends that will always stand behind you, being aware of what's going on in your country as well as the rest of the world, and always strive to learn something new. Most importantly: It gets better. Being an adult is awesome, but definitely get out and have some fun while you're young too. That said, once other people get to college, more important priorities begin to fall into place and so everyone else is right there with you going through the same thing. You got this! P.S - No I didn't arrive in a Delorean and please for the love of God lose the Hot Topic Tripp pants.

I would tell myself to engage with others more readily. I was shy for my first semester or so and ended up only having the people I lived with as friends. Although they were fantastic, I missed out on the opportunity to discuss ideas with a more diverse group. I often tell freshmen to be sure to talk to and get the phone number of at least one person in each class. That's important in case you miss something. More than that though, it's easier for me - a relatively quiet person by nature - to fully participate in class discussion when I feel like I have friends around me. In addition, on such a small campus, the walks between classes are much more interesting when you get to personally greet four or five people who you happen to cross on the way. One of the most fantastic aspects of the liberal arts experience is the ability to engage with people of a variety of backgrounds but with equal levels of passion. Relationships are essential. Talk to people!

Learn time management, and learn note-taking skills. More than anything. It is always better to get work done during the day, and have the nights to relax. Pace yourself - have the readings for classes with you wherever you go, and read and annotate throughout your day while you wait for things or if you get brief amounts of free time between classes. Go to the print lab at least thirty minutes before you need what you're printing. Your school work and your best friends are more important than parties, and in fact, partying with just your friends is a lot more fun than going to big, cantankerous parties. You'll know who these friends are because they'll want to stay in with you for fun, rather than encourage you constantly go out. You have control over your grades, your work, your investments and your happiness. When things seem too hard to handle, just breathe, make a plan, communicate with your professors, and remember: you got this.

Whatever you do in college, don't procrastinate. All it does is put a lot of stress on you at the end of everyday. Make sure to get enough sleep, for if you're tired in class, it just makes it harder to concentrate and get to work on homework when you get out. Always put school work before social life, at least to some degree, because if you spend too much time with your friends, you may have difficulty finishing your work later. Always remember that, no matter how long you think an assignment is probably going to take, it's probably going to take longer, so don't schedule your day thinking that you only have a couple hours of homework. On the weekends, make sure to at least get a start on your work on Friday. Also, use the writing center on campus. If you take any rough drafts for papers there, they will edit it for you. This can only do you good and doesn't take up much time. When you go, just take some other homework with you. Stay on top of things and don't allow yourself to fall behind.

If I could go back in time I would tell myself that time management is the key to my success in college. Procrastination is no longer an option. I will need a small agenda for my first year, but I should expect that this agenda will need to grow in size after this first year. I should also expect to feel a sense of accomplishment every time I check something off of the agenda and a sense of relief knowing that I can continue to be an active member in my sorority and campus organizations because I have gotten better at managing my time. I would also remind my younger self to enjoy senior year and being a teen because being a sophomore in college and no longer a teen is a scary thing. Thoughts about the real world start to slowly intrude into your mind, and you start wondering where your life is going, which is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. Lastly, I would let it slip that there will be a great support team of friends, professors, and employers there for me everyday, so to take one day at a time and remember to breathe.

I would tell myself to keep up the hard work and BE RESPONSIBLE in everything you do. Don't allow complacency to set in and always give everything your best effort, no matter what you're doing. I would also tell myself to be more confident and not worry about the silly little things that have no impact on the big picture. Set goals for yourself and then have mini goals that help you attain the your main aspirations and don't ever give up on something just because it is difficult. Your four years in college determine a large part of the rest of your life and they are incredibly important so don't mess around and do everything to the best of your ability.

I would tell myself that it is worth the extra effort to graduate in 3 years with a high GPA (which is what I did). Though I wish that I had taken a semester or summer to study aboard. The few trips that I have taken abroad have been very educational and widened my world view. I would also warn myself to do my due diligance in researching schools. I transferred schools after my first year of college because I was unhappy with the rigor of coursework at my original university, and I wish that I had not spent a year not getting the most out of my education. I would also tell myself to take more language classes to either become more fluent in the language I took or learn the fundamentals of another language. I avoided these classes because my high school language classes were not interesting. When I took a language in college, however, I found the classes very interesting and beneficial to my skill set. Though there are not many things that I would change about my college experience, I would advise my younger self to take these things into consideration.

I have been attending my community college for almost 2 years. The experience that I have received here has been a very great experience. I work on campus so I am very involved in activities and in my study. I know various students who just go to class and go home right after class, but I believe that getting involved in different clubs will better a student's college experience. I conduct campus tours, make student identification cards, and inform students about the different clubs that my school offers so they can become involved and volunteer. Since I started working I became more concerned on keeping my GPA at a high level, making sure that I get to know and talk to my professors, and lastly became involved or volunteered somehow in my campus. I think becoming aware of everything that goes on improves a person as a student because you wouldnt just go to school and dread being there since it may seem unamusing. Becoming involved made my college experience in a community college more amusing to me and my education. I come to school with enthusiasm and dont dread waking up just to go to class or work.

I came to Southwestern knowing no one. Nobody from my high school class decided to come to Southwestern during the college selection process. After being here for a semester and a few weeks, I have gained friends where we support each other and have fun when we need it. The classes here are vigorous, but as a liberal arts school, I have been able to expand my horizons while focusing on my major at the same time. I have learned several life lessons and grown as an individual. I have developed independence, and gained an understanding about my parents. Even though I've been experiencing drama, I am learning how to work through the stress with the help of faculty and friends. When I look back to how I was one year ago, I have definitely seen a change in myself as a person and as a student. Southwestern is truly an experience and is a college that changes lives.

As a freshman at Howard community college, this past year has definitely been an eye opening experience for me. I have grown not only in the intellectual sense, but as a person, as well. I have become more confident in who I am and what I believe, as entering the realm of college has a way of challeging your past beliefs and cementing your convictions. Embracing this new season of life has molded me into a more confident, outgoing person, ready to take on the world. Although I still don't know what I want to become, college has opened doors to a whole new world of possiblilties and I have been enjoying the exploration. I have had the opportunity to take several classes in fields I might be interested in, which has provided a glimpse of what would be in store for my future should I go in that direction of study. I believe that college has been a worthwhile experience so far, and this is just the beginning!

My experience at Southwestern University transformed me from student to colleague. Professor interest and confidence in me, even as a first year, became my impetus to develop beyond the classroom and explore my role as a global citizen. Through outlets like the Paideia program – an honor program in which diverse cohorts of students meet for biweekly salons and collaborate on civic engagement and research projects – I was able to befriend students from nearly every department on campus. This allotted me a fuller, more complex understanding of my own subjects and my potential impacts on the world. With my curiosity sparked, I began an independent study which has since become my honor thesis and book project (to be published in 2012). The lively and intense academic environment of Southwestern also enabled me to assist in the direction of a Shakespearean play alongside a professor, spend a summer studying Comparative Ethnic Urbanisms in NYC, and present my own work at the Young Rhetoricians’ Conference in California. Southwestern helped me develop from a shy young woman into a strong public speaker, published author, and PhD-bound lifelong student. Southwestern's value, for me, is in how it has helped me better value myself.

A college of Southwestern’s academic caliber provides less time for socializing and self-indulgence in lieu of academic study, but as a liberal arts university, Southwestern makes it a priority to invest in the varying interests of each student and provides an arena of rigorous academic study that also embraces artistic means of gaining and exercising intellect. Thus, I have gladly received professional instruction in music, photography, writing and other of my personal interests in my coursework. The highest emphasis may be placed on writing, however. However, while fiction is my forte and prime interest in composition, my Christian faith also pulls my interests toward ministerial writing; for example, allegorical novels illustrating biblical doctrine, and so forth. Southwestern has proven to be a breeding ground of educated individuals possessing the ability to expertly communicate ideas, both verbally and in written form. I have seriously grown in my ability to write while at Southwestern and this is a priceless gift in my opinion. In sum, I hope to be able to continue my education at Southwestern and further hone my various skills for use in the future. This scholarship would enable me to do just that.

During my time at Southwestern, I was able to expand my research skills and present my research at two national conferences. In doing so, I feel better prepared for a graduate school program that focuses on research. Also, because the courses are so demanding, my study skills have improved. Although I (as many students at Southwestern do) spent a majority of my time studying, I was still able to be actively involved in the social scene on campus. Therefore, I feel I was able to find the perfect balance between having a social life and academically preparing for my future. Furthermore, the one-on-one opportunities that professors at Southwestern offer are unlike any other experience that I have heard about on other campuses. Professors know their students and become actively engaged in their life outside of the classroom. In doing so, I feel that professors have ben better able to write letters of recommendation for students seeking internships, employment, and graduate school acceptance.

The biggest thing that I got out of my college experience was when I discovered my passion for psychology. When I first started college, I was not sure what I wanted to major in, but I was leaning towards Computer Science. I enjoyed the programming classes, but math is definitely not one of my strong points, so I had to work really hard just to pass those classes. One year, I took an introductory course in psychology, just to see what it was about. I ended up absolutely loving the subject and I knew that I wanted to learn more about it and become a psychologist in the future. I am now working on a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology and loving every minute of it.

Southwestern University has allowed me to continue to pursue my Business major and Comunications minor at a prestigious school. Southwestern has also opened my view on life and different people, allowing me to accept more people for how they are and not to pre judge how individuals act or look. I have also made life long friends that I can trust and talk to whenever I need. Attending Southwestern has also allowed myself to become more responsible and independent because I have to live on my own now, without parents or anyone who I look up to to use as an example. Southwestern has set my career and what I want to do with my life. It is very valuable to attend Southwestern because it does not only teach you academia and expand your knowledge, but it also allows you to grow as a person and become stronger through life lessons so you can live a comfortable and happy life.

I am just going back to colledge after 25 years. I have decided that I would like to further my education and career by attending college. My children are now grown and it is a decision of mine to go back to school. When you are young, it is a part of life to go to school or to not go to school. After 25 years, I have decided to go back to school. To make this decision after such a long time is a need that I have to fulfill. It is something I want more than anything in life at this point of my life. I think that this makes me a great candidate for college because I have experience in many parts of my life, but I also know that this is a thought through decision. I want to work in the health field and be a part of the wonderful things that come from working in the health field. I believe that I can make a difference in this world. Life is short and I am not done learning and hoping to learn.

I have gotten more life experience from my college experience. Life experience is the most vauable experience any indiviual can receive. This can be obtain thru a family crisis or a weekend camping with friends. I have learned more about decision making and time management. These areas have been significantly impacted by my college experience. A huge impact on decision making came when I was at my first party and I was pressured to drink. I had never drinked before and didn't want to say no to my friend. He took me to get a drink but had to go. At the moment he left, I felt relieved and thought about my decision not to say no. This experience and the afterthoughts really helped form my decision making skills and I really am grateful for it.

I have been in college for only a few months; however I feel as if I have experienced so much. I have experienced living in a dorm, moving away from home, playing a collegiate sport, joining groups such as Catholic Student Association, Pirate Crew, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, meeting new diversity of people, and creating a new chapter in my life. Starting college was like opening a new journal in my life. I had the pen in my hand, and the opportunity to write my own journey. So far my time in college has been the most challenging and exciting time in my life. College has been valuable to my life because it has forced me to grow up and start to be more independent. It has also challenged me in many ways, especially, academically. I feel like every day is a new and exciting challenge.