University of Arizona Top Questions

Genevieve, you're making this huge transition from a school no larger than a couple hundred students to a university with nearly 40,000 students, and you know what? You're going to be okay. The best thing you can do for yourself is to pursue others. Everyone here is so nice but they aren't going to chase you down to be their friend because they're already busy having fun with their friends. Get out of your head, get your nose out of your books and go spend time with other people. The people here are so interesting; every individual on this campus is unique in terms of their daily lived experiences, their backgrounds and their stories and they want to share their experiences with others! Being lonely is up to you; if you make the time to be genuinely interested in others' lives, people will respond and be interested in you too! Things pan out in the end -- you have a best friend by junior year and have made some other good friends along the way, so don't worry. Just go have fun!

If I were given the opportunity to give my high school self advice, I would have told myself how important grades were. In high school, I cared more about my social life and earning enough money in my job so that my family could live comfortably. Although this seemed important at the time, I feel it is more important for me to have earned better grades to have a higher GPA to ear good scholarships to pay for college. In result of me not doing well in high school, I did not earn the top scholarships and could not pay for a quality education my first year out of high school. I ended up going to Pima Community College and have regretted the decision since. Although attending a Community College is right for some people, I strive to achieve more than a Community College could allow me to because I want a better life for my future children than I had when I was a child. Therefore, I would have told my high school self to get my act together, buckle down and to get good grades because it would be worth it in the future; to my future self.

Growing up in a small town, it was definitely a shock to suddenly be surrounded by 40,000 students, over two times the size of my entire town. I would tell my high school self to get involved in a club/volunteer program as soon as possible. It is easy to let the semester slip by, forgetting to join all of the extracurricular activities you were planning on joining. I would also tell my younger self to start preparing financially before I graduated. Simple things such as creating a realistic budget and putting money away each month while in high school would have made doing those things in college much easier.

The advice I would give to my high school self would be to take things more serious. I procrastinated a lot after I graduated and had to take the hard road to completing my college degree. Many of my old classmates are already graduated and have started their careers as I am still struggling to get my degree. I would tell myself that the transition into college is a lot easier fresh out of high school while you still have the habits of a student. Once you take a break from high school and work, its hard to get back into the swing of things with school because you have grown accustomed to not having homework or obligations besides work. I would make sure I told my high school self to stop chasing girls and devoting most of my time to wrestling and to take my grades more serious because in the long run, that is what's going to dictate my future.

Take college seriously, don't just pick a school that's close to home because you are not sure what to do. Research different colleges and universities and make an informed decision. Job shadow in fields that you're interested in, and see what it's like before you make a decision.

For me, a large part of low self-esteem as a high-schooler was because I was surrounded by this image of beauty. I, at 104 pounds, was not thin enough, or I didn't have a sexual personality. I have constantly been made to feel as if irrevocable parts of my humanity will never be good enough. There are times, for some their whole lives, when people feel as if who they are is not okay. I would tell myself that soon enough, the rumors and nasty remarks people made to me in high school wouldn't matter to mep soon enough. I would tell myself I was destined for greatness. I'd say that we all feel alone, and bad, and different sometimes, and it is okay. I'd tell myself that the kindness in my heart will bring me great joy one day.

One of the most important things that I would advise my high school self to do when commencing college would be to take a pause and extinguish the high school mentality that you can procrastinate your way to success. College is an entirely different ball game and in order to succeed over the long haul, it is necessary to budget your time on what matters and also dedicate time to yourself. I would tell myself that it is not a race and it is best to not overload my schedule and excel than to graduate early and not enjoy the experience. This is a unique question for me to answer because I am currently starting my second degree and I'm using my experiences to make this time, even better. I also would tell myself to let go and experiment different aspects of college. I would have joined more clubs and taken courses simply because they interested me. College is such a unique part of life and no owner's manual can really grasp the essence of it, but more than anything I would say pause and take it all in because you can't hit replay.

If I could go back in time and give my past-self advice I think the first thing I would say would be to not give up. I've had a long and arduous journey to get where I am today, but I could have achieved much more in a shorter time span had I known there would be a light at the end of the tunnel. I would also stress the importance of staying of ahead of school work instead of just keeping up with the assignments. I've learned that it's fair easier to maintain a lead than try to come from behind. On a similar note I would tell my past-self about the significance of reading ahead and coming to class prepared to discuss the topic being taught. I think the most important thing I would tell myself would be to enjoy the process instead of focusing solely on the end result. I've met some incredible friends and professors along my path, but before I opened up and started having more fun I missed a lot of opportunities to expand my network of friends and acquaintances.

If I knew what I know now and had the opportunity to talk to myself during my senior year in high school I would tell myself: Not to waist money; that I was taking to much of my medication and that it was adversely affecting my grades; that you can't take everything for granted, even your homelife; and to attend clubs and socialize more: I was originally an extrovert, socializing will improve my grades and brain growth.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior; I would tell myself to fill out more scholarships and to actually take the ACT instead of always freaking out about it. In addition, I would tell myself to spend more time with Stephanie (my friend) because in the future she will be in the hospital struggling to get through her bone marrow transplant; she had to get the bone marrow transplant because her Aplastic anemia got worse. Also, I would tell myself to start putting all my activities I have to do on a calendar, so i would be more organized. Those are some of the things I would tell myself if I could go back in time as a senior in high school.