Stony Brook University Top Questions

Many times while day dreaming, I sit and wonder if I could go back in time to my younger self, what would I tell myself? After much thought, I realize that there are only three things I would have to tell myself. The first is to make lifelong friends who I could rely on whenever I needed to. The second is to focus on school work because our future is important and grades are very important. The final thing I would tell my high school self is to cherish your family and the moments you have with them. Make every moment with them count. Knowing these things back then would have changed my life for the better. Although there is no “undo” button in life, I like to imagine what my life would have been like if given the opportunity. I believe my college life and post-graduate life would have been greatly changed

You’re going to fail sometimes and that’s okay. With every step you take outside of comfort zone you’ll become a new and more confident person; the person you wanted to be in high school, but were too afraid of failure to become. You won’t always succeed. Sometimes you’ll gather your courage and speak up in class or try something new, only to have it end in failure. Eventually you’ll learn to file your mistakes away as lessons and utilize them as motivation. You’ll always be nervous about speaking in front of crowds, but take a breath and do it anyway, because your experiences and opinions make you a unique person who has a lot to offer if you only give yourself the chance. Your interests will shine through and your excitement will light up your entire being, captivating your audience as you realize you have the potential to inspire others. At presentations and performances your heart will pound, your throat will tighten, you’ll be dizzy with nerves, and you’ll love every second of it. Don’t allow your fear of looking foolish stop you from accomplishing your goals.

Looking back at the situation of my life as a high school student and all the life changing events that surrounded it I could have benefited from finding a strong female role model. My high school self was a good student with no mother and an over worked father lacking the support of extended family. As a now strong women in the nursing workforce I would have told my highschool self how important it is to get involved with activities of interest while in school. This discussion would be supported with words of empowerment to pursue scholarships that would enable admission to college. It would also be important to motivate my highschool self by providing the various resources to support work towards entrance to college and encouraging this thinking half way through high school. It would be challenging to stress the importance of working towards an education versus building a social life as most of the students in my high school lacked motivation to continue on to college. A discussion on how putting work into pursing and obtaining a good education might lead to a happier and healthier life full of many rewards might have been reinforcement to previous discussions.

Get involved in everything you can. Try new things. Take leaps. Even if you don't like it, you just cross it off your list and move on to your next interest. You will find your niche. But don't let your work ethic slip! Some of the best advice I ever heard was "Treat college like a 40 hour a week job: if you don't spend 40 hours in class, spend the rest of the 40 hours in that week studying outside of class." Take leaps, make mistakes, do some stupid things! Don't squander your college experience!

Be ready with a plan, write it down. Know what you want then go for it. Everything is possible. Don't doubt yourself, everyone does, none need to. What is next is exciting. Walk froward with welcoming arms. Mom and dad won't be around so much, this is your chance to show them that they have nothing to worry about. Try new things. Focus on your studies but focus more on your relationships with people. Be kind to everyone you meet. You will be surprised where you end up doing the most learning. Don't dwell in your mistakes because they aren’t mistakes at all, they are just more lessons that college has to teach. Enjoy the moment, each and every single one, you have no idea how often you will visit these upcoming memories. Enjoy as much as you can so you don’t spend the future wishing to return to the past. Focus on learning the things that make you happy so that you may practice the things that give you purpose. Fall in love if you can, you aren’t too young and life is supposed to be fun. Trust me, I know you. Cheers.

Be bold and don't stop! Don't take the break and go straight to college. You CAN do it and you WILL excel at it. It will change your life. It may not seem like a big deal now and you may feel like other things are more important, but you will be amazed at what you'll do with the degree. You're smarter than you think you are and I know you can do this. Don't be afraid to speak up, lean in and be yourself. You're going to change the world.

To start, I would have told myself to be more connected with my friends from high school. I realize now that wherever I go, I'm going to make new friends but it's just nice to keep in touch with people. Also, I would have warned myself about how expensive college textbooks and supplies were going to be. If I had known this crucial bit of information, I probably would have gotten a job earlier in high school. My final reminder to my past self would be to tell him that college days can fly by even faster than high school days. You get so caught up in the rush of things that you forget to keep track of time. You come in as an inexperienced freshman and then, just like that, you're at your graduation ceremony receiving your diploma ready to take another giant leap into the world.

Dear Adam, You wrote a letter to yourself at the end of junior year and opened it the summer of your senior year. This won't go back in time, but one purpose of reflecting is to act as if I'm actually talking to my former self so that I learn the lesson I'm trying to impart. I want to ask you some questions. Why did you only apply to two colleges? What changed from junior year when you wanted to apply to ten colleges? The purpose of these questions is not invoking an answer. The purpose is to inspire thoughtfulness. You react quickly to your impulses and lack self control. You avoid difficult obstacles and consider time a burden. My advice to you is to take a breath, momentarily stop time, and think. You are smart, and thinking is the best way to understand your values and adhere to personal principles. You are distracted by high school, but time goes on and the decisions you half heartedly make will catch up with you in a present moment one day. You can't avoid this, but you can prepare for it. That's how you can be content.

Throughout my senior year of high school, I was bloated from the high marks I received in Honors Calculus, Marine Biology, and AP Computer Science. I concocted the notion that I was a scientist, and I was going to cure cancer with a biomedical engineering innovation. Yet, my true passion has been to become a lawyer. Running from the humanities, I applied to mostly science universities. This is when I should have heard, “Don't forget yourself. You hate science.” If I had received this message, it would have impacted me two-fold. The immediate impact would have been on my college application process. I would have applied to more and or different universities. This would have given me options to contemplate. The lasting effect revolves around class selection. I would have not taken as many science courses in my freshman year of college. Without those courses, I would have had a significant boost to my GPA and increased space for classes I enjoy. I would love the chance to gain a greater degree of happiness and intellectual development. A meaningful difference in my life could have been made with these six words, hypothetically speaking.

Do not think you can do well in college doing the same amount of work you did in highschool! The work that was able to pull you an A in highschool may not even be enough to get you a college C. There are exceptions, but for the most part, you're on your own in college. Teachers won't care if you do well or not as long as they're getting paid. Also, with all the adjusting you'll have to do to your new lifestyle on campus, do not get too distracted. Learn to manage your time effectively from the beginning. There is time for everything, and in the long run, what will matter the most are your grades. But that doesn't mean spend every second of free time you have in the library. You should also get involved in college. Clubs and extracirricular activities will set you apart when it comes time to write your resume. Most importantly, don't just study something that you think will get you money in the future. Find something you love, and with passion and hard work, money will follow. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

When I transitioned to college, I forgot to take care of myself. I got so wrapped up in school and my social life that I never took a day to just de-stress, relax, and do something I enjoyed. I was bouncing back and forth between classes, clubs, parties, roommate gatherings, freshman orientations, and everything else I could get my hands on. I loved my new freedom to go out whenever I wanted to do whatever I wanted. I didn't sleep enough and my meals were less than nutritious. I'd eat what was offered at a party or a luncheon with an important staff member, but I'd skimp on dining hall food in favor of fast, unhealthy treats. If I could go back to my high school self, I'd tell her to relax a little. I'd remind her that it's OK to have a day to yourself to just sleep in, read a book or play a video game, and not go out with anyone. It isn't anti social to take time for yourself, and it took me messing up my entire freshman year to learn that.

Your life, our life; a perpetual digression, so it seems. In comfort, you’ll understand how our life works. I shall not speak of the necessity of improvement, for there is no need in so. You may perceive your future entity as an empty promise, but I do implore and beseech you, to keep our name dear to your heart; Skyler. We are scholars; we ought to thank our mother for such a Dutching name. My simple speech is that of insurance, continue as you are. Continue writing wooing poetry, your romantic essence will serge from heart to vein, vein to wound, wound to skin, skin to pen, pen to ink, ink to paper. They’ll fall in love, as so will you. You will fall, and then rise, and then to fall again, and rise again. You’ll experience the cycle, as did I. From one Skyler Jon Thayer to another, just do what you do best.

Take my time. Be patient and look forward to changes that may come. Look outward but most importantly inward, who you are and where you are going.

Throughout high school, I was not provided with the financial support and advice I needed and have learned from my transitioning summer from senior year to my freshmen year of college. If I were to go back in time, I would advise myself to get a credit card and build up good credit, get a part time job, and apply for as many scholarships as possible. While in high school, all I worried about was planning events and passing tests when I should been looking at the big picture of how my future in college is going to be financially impacted by the decisions made at the time. Due to my lack of prior planning, it is now difficult to get a loan without credit and hard to financially support myself as I approach my freshmen year of college. I have to rely on my parents and family members for help when I could have relied on myself if I had planned out my finances. Also, I would tell myself not to sweat small problems and focus on the big picture; my ultimate dreams and aspirations are at stake!

First I would say, "When the professor says to read the textbook, read the textbook!!" More importantly I would tell meself to save more money and/or work on paying off my student loans.

How much time would I have? The most important thing I would tell myself is pick a major you enjoy. Don't pick a major because you think it's what you should do. Don't pick a major because you think its what people want you to do. And don't pick a major because it's what people expect. Down the road you'll realize your mistake, if you even apply yourself to begin with. It's your future and what you want to do with it is what matters.

I would tell myself that it is most important to focus on yourself and your grades. I would tell myself that I should have started studying more for my core classes at the beginning of the year. I would also tell myself to constantly review throughout the year that way come finals week, it would be more of a review and refresher than relearning topics. Had I known this, finals week would have been a lot less stressful.

If i had the ability to go back into time and talk to myself, I would first tell myself to keep doing what I'm doing and that I will get somewhere. I would follow that by saying take the time to go visit colleges and meet people, as well as apply to as many scholarships as possibly. Having only applied to two schools and no scholarships, I would be able to go much further with my education if i had listened to both of the sound pieces of advice. I would also tell myself to listen to all advice that is ever given! College is a great place to learn, obviously, but it's also a great place to experience. If i had this advice as a freshman I would've been much further in my studies, been to more social engagements and joined more clubs. Most importantly I'd tell myself to search for this site and fill out this application. We all know what happens if you go back in time and change something that shouldn't be changed!

If I could go back in time I would tell myself to apply to a different college because the material at Stony Brook is very difficult and ruining my GPA. I would also tell myself to not trust people as easily because the people at my college are socially awkward and are scared away by people trying to help them. Overall I did not enjoy my first year and hope the years to come are better, but unfortunately you would only know that from experience and for all I know other colleges could be the same.

College is considered to be one of the best times of one's life. It is in college where one is exposed to different political views, ethnicities, religions, nationalities, and above all, different people. It is one of the most important phases of your life. It is a phase in which one grows to be a more mature person. If I could go back in time and talk to my own self as a high school senior, I would advise myself to step foot into college with a broad mind so I can welcome new ideologies and thoughts. For the course load, good organization and study skills are extremely important. I will balance my social life and my academic life, making sure that social life does not interfere with my study time. One of the most important things I would consider is the type of classes that I will take. Besides the core classes that are required for my major/minor, I will take other classes that highly interest me. I will give myself advise to join more clubs, volunteer, and participate in extracurricular activities. I will take college as a huge learning experience where I will grow throughout.