Truckee Meadows Community College Top Questions

Dear Jaquellie Todd, This is you from the future. Please look at all colleges around you and do not go to a nationally accredited college. If you do you will be wasting your time on long classes that will not transfer. Find a good science program in a regionally accredited college so, it will help you get to your goal in becoming a doctor. - Sincerly, future and smarter you.

Dear Chalyn, There are many important decisions in your near future. My advice to you is simple, but If you take this to heart you will be prepared to take on the little piece of the world that is coming your way. Explore the world and it's cultures. This will be the most enlightening experience, but remember were you come from. Be fearless. Don't be afraid to do something because it's different or because it's a big change. We will overcome things you never thought were possible, things that only happen to "other people", well, they are going to happen to us. We are going to hurt, we are going to cry with some tears even lingering until now, put some of that stubbornness to good use. You'll need it. School is going to be a grand adventure, I promise. You don't have to excel at everything but find joy in what you have to do and treasure what you love about it. Use Mom's wisdom and remember Dad just wants the best for us. Love us, you'll see what we can do. Chalyn

Knowing what I know now, I would tell myself to reconsider going to college rather than a trade school. The college experience is much more than academics and choosing a career path. It’s about opening up your vision and perception of the world. It’s about learning new cultures and ways of thinking. It’s about the potential to create lifelong bonds and friendships. It challenges your ability, your drive, and your values, but it will expose who you really are and what you’re capable of doing. There will not be a better time than this to go through the potential life changing experiences and challenges compacted in those four short years, as life will eventually get in the way. The freedom and lack of responsibilities that you typically have right out of high school will not come around again. Now is the time to take advantage of the situation because once you settle down and have a family, priorities change, and your time is no longer your own. Going to school after you settle down won't be imposible, but it becomes exponentially harder trying to balance work, family, and school life. Please consider these words.

I would start by letting my high school senior self know that it is okay to take a step back when moving forward does't feel right. Though the stares from peers, and other judging persons, may weigh down on your young brain when they find out you have "fallen behind," it's always better to move forward with feet firmly planted and a clear mind. The benefits of weighing all your options before making decsions is unparalleled. This includes deciding on a major. The stress of worrying about the opinions of others, in regards to YOUR life, is not worth it. You will never know what another person is truly thinking so it would be in your best interest to worry about your own life and your own future. Don't take the advice of your future UNR counsellor when she tells you to take a year off to REALLY pursue other interests because it will backfire horribly, along with setting you back with regards to graduation. You have it in you to do great things, Ozie. You are an excellent student and a wicked artist with a bright future. Just don't squander your talents on trivial pursuits.

She was standing by her locker, natural blonde hair lightened by degrees to a Marilynesque shine. Her jeans were three days removed from the washer; perfect in her mind. Nails bitten to the quick, she worried a cuticle and pressed her forehead against the cool metal that contained nothing; her education something forfeited to the decision taking house in her body. I wish I could have told her to be strong, to be focused, and to know that there was more than one path to take. I would tell her that things would only get more complicated; that the road would become littered with the little things of life that make mountains. A smart girl, you would think that she would have figured that out on her own, but she didn't. Twenty three years later, with three children to raise and her husband heaven-bound, she's figuring it out now. With laser focus, she envisions her education as a currency worth sacraficing for -- and sacrafice she does. Dinners are sometimes late, free time is something scheduled, and pennies are counted in piles; yet, she knows it's a beautiful thing -- this return to herself and her continued education.

Whenever I hang out with old friends from high-school and reminisce about our most highlighted years one of us is bound to say, “If I go back in high school knowing what I’ve learned now, It’d be a piece of cake.” When people say this phrase, it almost sounds like a form of regret and they’re (now) confident enough to know better from their experiences after high-school. It doesn’t have to be a regret or whatever we “could have” or “should have” done but it’s more about are ability to be aware and compare ourselves not only from our high school years (but anytime in our lives) to use those experiences and improve ourselves now. One day I will see myself as a high-schooler through the eyes of my kids, nieces, or grandkids and just like looking at myself years ago I'd tell them to, “Enjoy the good times and bad times because it’s not always one way of good or bad all the time. Try and make the best of any situations because remember in life you always have the choice of improving yourself anytime you want. NO REGRETS!”

To apply for scholarships sooner. Do not procrastinate because one or two scholarships is still hard to pay for everything for school, becasue you also have books and other finances you have to take care of. Also taht AP classes are important but they do not represent college to its full extent, they just have to expose you to everything. And lastly to talk to your teachers, because they are there to help. It also would help if you talk to councilers at my college to know exactly what classes to take and the first semester is not a waste.

As a high school seinor, the pressure is on when other kids look up to me. Instead of, not trying my junior year, I realized that it was my last year in high school and I had to work tremendously inorder to get my grades up. I would have told myself to not follow bad influnces and don't let people get in my way. a senior is supose to get good grades and pass all their classes and I think I should have went to another teacher to help me on passing my proffisency's. That is one huge test the state has to take and if people don't pass the test, then aparantly they don't pass high school. I saw many people drop out of high school and I knew that was not my way of life that i wanted to take. I took the efort and started organizing myself to help me prepare for that graduation night. I think i would have done better if i tryed all four of my high school years that way I could get my GPA up; howver, I did get a Presedentail Award and most Improved Senior Award.

Advice from the future,

Hey Kid, You're going to college now and you need to get math out of the way. I know that you just got through 4 years of it, but there's only 2 or 3 classes left at max! If you do it now, you won't forget your skills and you won't have to take it again. For every 3 months that goes by you forget 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of what you learned, so better to just do it now and save yourself from having to take the entry math test all over again. Also, don't blow your paychecks on things you think are important like a gym membership or concert tickets. Save your money. The college has a great gym at a fraction of what these guys offer and if you save, you'll be able to pay for school all the way through and not have to stop or have gaps in education. Go for the career, make the big bucks! Also, college is very flexible with scheduling, so space your classes out, don't try to pack your credits into two days a week, you'll stress yourself out. Now make me proud!