The University of Montana Top Questions

Younger self, do not be afraid to leave your dorm and explore. Strike up a conversation with a stranger, they may become your best friend. Younger me, studying is important you know, but so is sleep. Don't forget to sleep! Try new things! Sign up for a class you would not normally try. Join a club! Younger self, always remember to take time to smell the roses. Life moves pretty fast when you're not looking. While the fast lane on campus is enjoyable, take time to grab a good book and lay in the sun. Younger me, learn lots but have fun!

Stick out high school. It will benefit you in the long run.

If I were to give advice to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself to finish strong. In my senior year I started to get lazy like most seniors do and figured that the strength of the rest of my highschool career would carry me through the college application process and the rest of the year. I stopped putting in the effort, I didn't take the AP tests that I should have and I didn't work nearly as hard as I should have. This is hurting me now because I could be further ahead than I am now, and I wouldn't have to be paying for classes that I basically have already taken. I would also say to get an earlier start on the application process. I missed out on some of the application deadlines and scholarship deadlines in my senior year because I got started way too late in the process. There are many things that I would have told myself but these two are the most important in my view.

College is a huge change and it is scary. Things are good now so enjoy them. The next year will be the hardest one you have yet but you have to remember that things are not as bad as they seem. There will be times when you feel lonely and angry and sad, but you have to remember that you have the power to change your life. If you do not like something then you have to change it. You cannot take everything so seriously. I haven't even been in college for a year yet, but I can see that you are the only thing that can hold you back. So get out of your comfort zone and just let yourself go! I promise you'll be fine.

Choose carefully about where you want to go. Do more research on each college. Apply for A LOT of scholarships. Accept the fact that all applications are going to take a while, so apply early. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Be happy with what you have at the moment, but never stop striving for better. Get a planner and don't forget to write down homework and important events. Don't buy a book for every class, even though it technically may be required. You may not ever use them, and it is a good way to save up money. Even though you are homesick, staying away from home is sometimes a good thing. It teaches you that you can live on your own.

Dear Naomi, Please start college sooner. A year off is fine, but waiting too long will put you further behind in your eventual career than you'll want to be. The years will fly by before you know it and you will look back and wonder why you waited, and why you still have several years to go untill you get the degree you really want. Achieving your degree at a later age will be that much more difficult when you have a young family and are trying to juggle your personal life, work and school still; especially when going to school becomes full time work. Pick a different school, a different major – nursing rather than liberal arts. Driving a little farther to get the degree you want from a school that offers it will save you many years of unnecessary school and will put you ahead financially in the long run. And finally, enjoy being young. Try dorm life and the "college experience" with your peers. You will spend the rest of your life working, and while work experience is important you can make it working part time while dedicating more time to your college education.

I would go back to my former self when I was just starting my senior year and tell him that I needed to buckle down way more than I did. I would have told myself that I need to focus more on class work instead of goofing off. I have matured greatly while I have been here at the University of Montana so I truly wish i had buckled down more in my year before starting college. I would have laid out what I need to do to have success while I am here studying and learning. It is truly an eye opener when you start your first classes and starting the whole college thing at a running start. I would have told me to become more organized and having a planner for homework and such. It really helps you control your life when you have something like a planner. When I was in my senior year I did not keep track of my homework that well so I would have told myself that a planner is the key to success. I would have just told myself that to not get so stressed about things, just enjoy the experience.

Take your future serious, don't wait for a tragic accident leading to vaporization to realize what you want to do.

Reach out to the world and do not let people tell you that you can not do something. Life is about being confident for whom you and who you're going to be. Study, focus, and work hard this school will socialy accept and love you for yourself. Do what you want but be careful. Make sure you have breaks in between classes and studying, also relax man. Don't sweat the small stuff, literally take one moment at a time. For each one you leave behind, there will not be the same even if you try to repeat that moment. The emotions will not be the same, so live and learn, my friend. Enjoy college.

I would convince myself to take the AP classes offered in high school so that I would save myself money, and time in college.