University of Arizona Global Campus Top Questions

Knowing what I know now about college I would go back and tell myself a lot my senior year, but the most importaint thing I would tell myself is to start studying and teach yourself good study and homework habbits now. In college it is a lot diffrent than in high school. In high school you can blow off your homework and just wing it when it comes to test day, but in college that does not work. In college you need to spend your time outside of class productively or you will find yourself lost and confused in class and have no clue whats on the test. Also you need to study for your tests. When I was in high school I rarely had to study to get a good grade on a test, but now that I am in college I have found out I rarely get a good grade on a test unless I study for it.

My high school self was very shy and had the belief she was not smart enough for college. She had a dream of becoming a preschool teacher but knew that would not happen because she was not going to college. After she graduated she began working with children as a babysitter and then a nanny. She then ran a daycare in her home. Years later she was blessed with a job at a childcare center as a lead teacher in the toddler room. By this time twenty years had past with no college degree, but she was teaching and had been teaching along. The window for growth without a degree was very small and she stilled dreamed of teaching preschool. At the age of forty three I now know I was wrong by believing I could not go to college and follow my dreams. If I could go back in time I would tell myself to follow her dreams now because not only is she able to attend college but she grows into an amzing teacher that touched many lives, and those lives touch her right back.

Don't take any time off after high school. Go directly on to college. You will thank yourself later. Take time to acclimate yourself to your school. Get involved with other students that are like minded and have the same sort of goals that you do. Often making these types of friends will help you to hold yourself accountable and establish life long connections. These connections may come in handy later on down the road. Trust your professors but don't be afraid to challenge their thoughts. Professors like to see you participate in class and not just show up. Decide what you love to do and pursue it, don't hesitate because you think you can't do it, there are people all along the way that will help guide you and move you in the right direction. Make college your priority, you have your whole life ahead of you to work. Work if you must but find other ways to help support yourself while in college. Apply for all the scholarships and grants that you can so that you don't come out of college with a lot of debt.

I have done a lot of projects and have had a lot of life experience since high school. I would tell myself not to wait as long as I did to start college. The help and the answers are there but it is up to you to have the courage to ask. Don't be afraid to try, failure could happend but those are the times that we learn and grow. Learn and grow.

I would push my self to find the right career and college. I would express how important a college degree is for myself and the reward. I would say do not give up college invovles so much as it's apart of young adulthood. College is a lot easier for high schooler fresh out of school as life and responsibitlties increase with life and time. Just do it...

Talking to myself as a senior I would say, "It is not you it is them. Do not let the negative things people have said scare you away from trying because you are good enough. Your mother was wrong. You are not too lazy or too stupid and you actually can do anything you set your mind to. When you go to college you will find out how that you are a critical thinker which is why you feel like you see things differently then everyone else. College may be difficult at times but you have always prided yourself on being willing and excited to learn. Do not be afraid to jump in now because you will eventually build up the courage to succeed. Not only will you regret waiting for so long you will end up feeling extremely foolish when you realize that you have been afraid for a decade for absolutely no reason. Always remember that anything your mother says about you is because of her own issues not because you are a bad person, a stupid person, or a lazy person. You are an intelligent, caring, and honest person so embrace it"

If I could talk to myself as a high school senior would be a miracle, since I never was a high school senior. I had my son at the age of 17, did not graduate with my class in 1994, but recieved my GED in1997. If I could tell that girl who sat in GED class among her fellow classmates anything, I would say, "No matter what the situation, love is the main objective, not profit." "Be humble, but not naive," and the most important message, "Focus and believe in your goals to give yourself faith, validity and value."

If I were to go back in time and give myself advice, it would be simple and direct. You are ready for school right now as you are not disciplined or focused. You have not chosen a career carefully. In twenty years when you attempt to get a degree, you will be ready and the experience will be much different as technology and the theory of learning will have changed dramatically in your favor. Do not let your working class family and high school educators' lack of faith in you become baggage that you carry for the next two decades. The transition to online learning will be relatively simple for you as you will have literally spent years in the trenches of information technology. You will need to learn to take constructive criticism and not compare it to the negative criticism you grew up with in your family life. It will take discipline, perseverance, focus and determination to transition successfully. You will do it and I am proud of you.

I wish I could go back and tell myself to make the choice to enroll in college at 18 when I received my GED. I would tell myself, "you can do it, even though it looks like you can't right now. You can take one or two classes at a time and you can work part time, and you can make it through. It will be challenging, but you will also learn alot and it will give you the confidence you will need at the start of your career. It will be much more challenging if you wait until you are an adult with an established career and with all the responsibilities of maintaining your home life. Get the degree now, while you are still young, energetic and fresh. It will be a great accomplishment and a foundation on which to build your entire work/life experience."

I would tell myself to pay closer attention in class and get better grades. I would also tell myself to Think more about the choices that I would make in the future. You have no idea how much your choices affect your whole life when you are that young.