The Evergreen State College Top Questions

Research what you're interested in and find what you want to know about the world and pursue that as a career. Doing well and working hard truly will pay off.

Take it slow. Remember that you are a confidant, intelligent, wonderfully brave girl that has come so far from her home for an education. Don't get sucked into the day-to-day crazy of college life, focus on what you want and how to get it, and enjoy the place that you are in. College is stressful for everyone and everyone needs a break, so make sure to put aside some time to walk the beautiful campus of Evergreen. Above all remember to breath.

I think it is important not to have to many expectations. It is good to imagine yourself and then things you will be doing when you get to college, but if you have expectations about the people you will meet, or the guy you will end up dating you can easily let yourself down and wind up hurt feelings. It is god to know that having expectations can casue dissatisfaction.

This is kind of a silly question. As a high school senior I would never have listened to advice from an adult like myself, even if I had known it was myself. I would probably warn me not to be so stubborn, and to think twice before enrolling in the state school I initially dropped out of. I would warn about the dangers of not taking care of myself to the point of emergency-room illness, and I would let myself know that it would be better in the long run to wait for the right time to go to school. But I really would not have listened. I know I would have still enrolled in that state school, would have still lived in the trailer park and still would have worked so hard that I got strep throat, bronchitis and pneumonia all in the same winter. I know I would have regretted not listening to myself as I received a report card with the lowest GPA I have ever seen, but I still would have bull-headed my way through it all. That's what the formative adult years are about. Stupid stubbornness disguised as free independence.

Apply to evergreen and spend all four years there.

I wish I had gone straight to community college, then to Evergreen instead of trying to go to Georgetown. I would tell myself that community college makes sense economically and would give me a chance to adjust to the workload and college expectations while living at home. I would then tell myself that Evergreen is a much better fit for me and will provide me with the kind of education that I want in a way that feels like I am actually learning instead of memorizing.

Do your work and apply for scholarships!

If I could go back in time and tell my self something about me now, it would be to go to my teachers and the high school and tell them to really teach me something that I can use in college. I was not taught how to write an essay paper in high school and now through my years at colleges it has been a real struggle for me to complete a paper. But with the help of many people at college I have improved on essay writing. Oh and I am an older student so it would be to give myself advice to getting the college sooner but it is ok if you wait too.

If I were allowed to go back to myself as a senior, I would have started to look at colleges sooner! There is so much pressure put on us as high schoolers to make the decision of where we want to go to college and what we want to do for the rest of our lives, it's no wonder we panic and have a difficult time. I would also tell myself to really tap in to who I really am and if I want to change the way I live. I would also tell myself to relax, because change can happen even after you start your college career.

I was a very independent 18 year old and thought I was too mature for things like campus housing, campus dining, and campus club sports. Looking back, I wish I had soaked these things up, allowed myself to experience them. I would advise the 18-year-old me to recognize college as a sacred holding chamber between adolescence and the working-world where I could afford to relax into learning, to indulge in the experience of college community. It's such a privilege to attend college, and to experience it fully is a way of honoring the opportunity. If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I would encourage her to keep things simple, and allow herself to be her age. Instead of trying to be so mature and together, I'd advise her to feel okay about making mistakes and being a little afraid; and once she arrived at college, to loosen up enough to send in a mediocre assignment instead of a near-perfect one—particularly if it meant she was taking time out to experience what it was like to 18 and away from home for the first time.