The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Top Questions

There is not one particular school that you are designed to go to, though many high school students are brought up to think so. I attended the school I thought I was "supposed to go to" originally and left after 1 semester. I currently attend the school that I grew up saying I would never attend and know for a fact I would not be happier had I stayed at my previous institution, nor would I have likely found my major and future profession. Be brave enough to leave home, even if your group of friends is staying at home and together. In the end, you'll be glad you branched out and you'll be more mature, experienced, and traveled. It's only four years. Don't be afraid to fly away from home! You have to do it eventually.

I would tell myself to work harder in class and get better grades, be more confindent in my self as a person and my ability to do well in school. I really wish i had done better in high school because i got through highschool with c's and that meant that i didn't get admitted into the college of engineering at my university. I have been given permission to take engineering classes in the hopes that I will be admitted to the college as an internal transfer student. thats really good for me because it means that i will be able to graduate with a major in aerospace engineering as I had originally planned. I had no friends in highschool becuase i was quiet and didn't talk to anyone to try to be friends. I had little confidence in my self because my grades were so low. If I had known how much fun college classes were going to be and that highschool classes would be very fundamental to my education in college I would have taken highschool more seriously which I think would have led to higher self esteem.

Stop caring about what other people think of you. No one cares in college; everyone just acts like themself and doesn't think twice about it! Stop being so scared and nervous. Let the anxiety go! Just make sure to study and do your work, and you will do just fine. Don't let anyone get in your way or stop you from achieving your goals and dreams. You only live once, so make sure you make this life count.

Dear high school senior self, College life is going to be very different than life in high school and no matter what school you end up at, you will have to adjust. Therefore, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and apply to your dream school. It's worth taking that chance. But also, don't be afraid to accept that sometimes the best option, especially financially, may not necesarily be your dream school, and that's okay! Once you get to college, don't expect to adjust immediately and know that everyone takes different amounts of time to transition to college life. Don't expect your first semester of college to be easy nor should you expect to get perfect grades in the first semester. No matter how simple a class may seem, it's still a very different structure than any high school class you have ever been in. Your first semester, the whole semester, is your time to transition to college classes, college studying, college living, etc. Don't be afraid to try out a lot things, such as different clubs or activities, in order to find where you fit in. Finally, be yourself.

Honestly, I do not know if I could give myself any advice. All the choices I made and the clubs and activites I was a part of in high school helped shape the person I am today and the choices I have made so far during my time in college. Through my experiences, I have learned that the types of people I was friends with I high school are not the types I want to be friends with now and I would have never figured that out had I not been around any these people in the first place. I can come up with no piece of good advice that I would give myself about making the transition except to do it my own way because I will figure it out as I go along. Maybe one thing I could say is that the transition is not going to be as weird or difficult as everybody says it will be. Yes, the food is not as great and nobody is telling you when to go to bed, but for me, it was like I was coming home and I will never want to change the way it played out.

With time and age, I often think about "what if I had done this" or "I wish I could have done that differently" back when I had the chance. With that in mind, I ponder the words of former president, Theodore Roosevelt, "Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you've got to start young." Nonetheless, I have been satisfied yet grateful of the blessings I have today due to my previous choices. However, if I could go back I would tell my young self to give everything more effort and patience because delayed gratification is a very worthy trait. Too often, I would get away with doing the bare minimum and call it succeeding. Unfortunately, that mindset has held me back from tackling common obstacles such as awaiting the news from a job or even completing a difficult novel. I was in such a hurry that I would end up disappointed from the effortless work I put in. Now that I recognize this weakness, it has changed me for the better. Still, some things would have gone smoothly if I had given more effort and waited kindly. A Lesson Learned!

If I could go back and tell myself only one word of advice, it would be to enjoy and relish in the limited time that you have. Graduating from a rigorous magnet school here in Tennessee, we were constantly being pushed to be the best academically that we could possibly be. I definitely feel that my high school prepared me for the workload that I have in college, but I also feel like we were all so caught up in working towards the future, that we often didn't stop to enjoy the time that we had in high school. Our school was full of intelligent people, people that we could learn from, and bounce ideas off of to make each other better. Unfortunantly, instead of taking time to learn from one another, and grow together, we were often caught up in our own lives, and worried about where we would be in a year. If I could just tell myself one thing, I would make sure that I knew that our high school was full of very special individuals, that are rare to happen upon anywhere else, and to take pleasure in the time that we had together.

If I could go back and talk to my high school self I would tell her to not be so worried all the time when it came to certain situations. I would tell myself that college is a fresh start, a time to become whomever I wanted to be. I would also tell myself to save up a little better and apply for more scholarships because it is a lot harder being cut off from your parents than you think. But most importantly, I would tell my high school self that college is an amazing and truly life-changing experience and to look forward to it and the freedom I have now to be who I want and do what I want with my life.

I would tell myself to pack light, keep an open mind and be ready for anything. I mean anything. You may have several ideas about how life will go on campus with a roommate that you may not know and have high expectations but then reality shows something totally different. Always remember your are in control of your destiny. Make the best of each situation, good or bad and never allow others to influence your actions. Call mom or dad when you have doubt. They are always with you and for assisting you. Remember to be happy and give what you have to give and nothing more. Set boundaries. Set boundaries. Set boundaries with your roommate. this is very important. Just because you get along in the beginning, you may eventually have issues along the line so boundaries are necessary. One last thing I would tell myself is to utilize any and all resources. They are there to help you.

Hey man, you do NOT know everything. Go ahead and pay attention in pre-calculus because you will use that trig again very soon, and a lot of it. Oh yeah, and go ahead and start getting in the habit of reading your textbooks. Those help out a lot. Stop fighting with Mom. She has been through this whole college deal and know how it works. Also, your current relationship doesn't work out. Sorry about it. You might want to develop some study skills, too. Those come in handy pretty much every day of school. Start keeping a planner and check it throughout the day. Check the tasks off as you complete them. Keep an eye on the time. That Xbox that your roommate will have will keep you up longer than you think(Don't worry, your roommate is a cool guy). Stay on top of your school work and don't let assignments build up. When they are assigned, get them done. Most importantly, have fun. It's a big school and things can get hectic, but I promise that we made the right decision. UT is our Home. Sincerely, Your wiser, much more handsome, future self.

While the location of your college is an important thing to consider, it is not the end all be all of college. Anywhere you go, you will make friends with like-minded individuals just as nervous about embarking on a new portion of your life. You should, however, really choose a school that you will be proud to go to. If you aren't excited about your college and your education, you will have a miserable time and face a lot of challenges in your upcoming four years.

You may be smart but grades don’t come easy in college like they did in High School. College depends on the workload you are willing to give. You may think that it’s okay to skip over a few things or slack every now and then, but each and every day you skip, homework miss, or attention not given will without a doubt result in your grade. It’s as simple and complicated as that. That’s the difference between college and High School, college doesn’t depend on your knowledge it depends on your commitment. You will learn way more than you think about yourself in college, so take every opportunity to experience new things, and most importantly, always remember to read a good book, meet wonderful people, and have amazing conversations.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I know exactly what I would say. I would tell myself that college is much harder than you expect but at the same time is a great experience. I would tell him to get up and go to every single class and study hard in order to maintain the GPA needed to keep his scholarships. Going through my first year of college I now know what i takes to be successful and I would warn him about the mistakes I made this past year, which were many. I would also tell myselef that there is no reason to be nervous. College will be great and you will meet so many new friends. I would tell him these next few years will bring so many great memories and new and exciting things. In short, I would tell myself that college is a blast but at the sametime to take school seriously.

I would tell myself that it is alright to not know what you want to be. High school is the time where people struggle to find out who they are, so how are they supposed to know what they want to do with their entire lives? Not many other people know, either. Everyone acts like they know everything and have a plan, but in reality that plan is just a hopeful guide. You get to college and are surrounded by all kinds of people and opportunities that you could never imagine. There are jobs and majors and classes that you have probably never even heard of. It is also fine to change your major. Lots of people do it, even Juniors and Seniors. So what if you have to stay for longer than four years? It happens. The world will not end, and no one will think any less of you. Try not to worry so much. Just be the best you can be, because that is all that anyone could ask for. They will still be proud, even if you decide to be an English major.

I grew up in the same town all of my life and when it came graduation, most kids stayed close to home and attended the University of Georgia. I didn't. I had always wanted to go away for college, just to get a new experience, and that is how I ended up at the University of Tennessee. If I were to go back and talk to my senior self, I would tell myself that college itself is a whole new experience no matter where you go. College is what you make of it. I thought if I went to UGA it would be high school all over again so I pushed myself to go away. Little did I know how hard my first semester would be knowing absolutely no one at Tennessee. I wouldn't change my decision of coming to Tennessee for the world, I love it now, but I would want myself to understand how big of a decision it is to move away from everything I knew and start over. I would want myself to appreciate everything home had to offer because I can honestly say I miss the town I so badly wanted to leave.

Adriana, college life is a big change. While high school prepares you for college academically, there are just some things left out. Before getting into that, hit the books, they are not going to hit themselves. What you are learning now is going to follow you into college. I know you dislike writing essays in English, but you are going to write about one essay per class every semester and your practice now will help you. On the topic of help, when you get to college some classes will be more difficult than others and there is nothing wrong with getting it. Afterall, you are there to learn, and if something does not make sesne, seeking help from peers, tutors, or the proffesors themselves demonstrates just how much you want to learn. Chemistry will start off not being your favorite class, but with tutoring, study groups, and asking your teacher for help, you will actually look forward to going to class, end up getting an A, and even get recommended as a tutor for the next semester! Finally, friends. You have different classes with up to 100 students at a time. While daunting at first, you cannot live without them.

Never give up. Be true to yourself. The people making fun of you now? They won't matter when you leave. You'll never see them again and they will have absolutely no influence on your life. Don't let them bring you down.

Study Philosophy. Don't study Physics or Chemistry or even Math because you are good at it. Study Philosophy because it will help you the most in life. Even if you don't graduate, which I didn't, it will help you learn the ideas in any new endeavour so you can succeed. Many people will tell you to study practical things--don't. You'll be able to make a good living learning things quickly later. But through all your upcoming hobbies, relationships, jobs, and lifestyles having learned many different way to think about how the world and people work will benefit you the most. When you find the career best suited for you, you can learn it when the time comes. Until then, keep building all the various skills you are interested in. If you do this, none of your time will be wasted. This goes for extracirricular activities just as well. In particular, the time you waste playing with computers will be your best career in the future.

The one advice I would give myself if I could go back in time is to perservere. High School is just a little taste of what college will be like, but it is not the real thing. College can be overwhelming and difficult; however, you have to fight through it. You cannot always rely on someone to help you or give you advice when you need it. You have to make the best decision you can. If that decision is wrong, own up to your mistakes and learn from them. You are strong in enough to overcome any challenges that awaits you. Just be the best you can be and perservere.

Stop what you are doing right now and listen! What you “know” at this very moment is extremely minimal to what the reality of the world is. The party this weekend is definitely not in your best interest, it will in fact do more bad than good. It is highly probable that you will no longer be acquaintances with three-fourths of the friends you have now. Getting in the same trouble as your friends does not make you a better friend, it makes you more lose who you truly are to be more like another person. Furthermore a true friend will not ridicule you for deciding to study on the weekend, nor will they be ashamed that you are an avid school band member. So do not, and i repeat do not waste your talent and quit playing the instrument you spent hours on end practicing. Hold dearly onto your morals. Listen to your mom, she has sacrificed so much to give you everything you need, completely on her own. You are smarter than you think, you will be an honor roll student in college and you will get into the college of your choice to pursue your goals.