University of Arizona Top Questions

When I was a high school senior, I encouraged myself to make independent decisions. This was extremely important in making the transition from high school to college, and is one thing I wouldn't change about the way I prepared myself for my college education. Since being at college, I have found that independence is key. From making our own educational choices such as picking classes and how we chose to spend our study time, to the social aspect of making friends and being apart from family members, incoming college freshman should prepare themselves in making independent decisions and living with the consequences if any. This will help new college students become accustomed to the next four years of their life preparing for their own future.

Tick, tock, tick, the clock shyly dances around in my sleepy mind. Waking up for high school was a necessity, but let’s all be honest about college, it is your own decision as to what you decide to do with your holy morning minutes. Knowing what I know now, I would chuckle before facing my naïve and cocky senior self. I thought the world was under my feet when my high school graduation rolled around a sharp corner. College was a wake up call, in fact wake up call is an understatement, it was a tornado. College broke down my walls of sensibility and confidence, because it forced me across the country, into a privileged all-American jungle. The best advice I would give, to be quite honest, scream into my ignorant high school face would be to never ever give up and speak up. George Washington once said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter,” and I now understand my voice attributes to the strongest power. College is the real world full of individuals; it takes the power of voice to stand out.

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College. You’ve spent 13 years preparing for COLLEGE. You’ve written sample resumes, taken sample tests, written sample papers to prepare for COLLEGE. This endless barrage of teachers telling you that COLLEGE is everything, mom telling you that without COLLEGE you'll have nothing, relatives that you see once a year telling asking about your COLLEGE plans? All of this pressure making you think that it’s not worth the trouble? Well, I have a secret. It’s going to be fine. The fact is, you’ll be married and have a daughter by the time you’re in COLLEGE. You’ll spend the next four years slowly realizing 1.) that your life is no longer your own and 2.) you can either accept your “lot” in life or realize that you owe it to not just your family to life the life you’ve dreamed, but you owe it to yourself. An “education” is not a fancy term for wasted money, it’s an open door, it’s a seized opportunity. People are not created to tread exactly the same path, but everyone deserves a shot at happiness. This whole COLLEGE thing? It’s going to be wonderful.

If I could speak to myself at eighteen, My advice would be to consider all my choices. Don't hinder your decisions based on a man, your lack of ambition, or your eagerness to break free. Go to school when you need to, and don't always assume that your intelligence will get you through. Papers may count highly, but attending class and hard work adds up as well. Venture out and immerse yourself in the enviornment of a new area. Visit more of out of state institutions. Consider all of the options of your major before you choose one. Don't plan your life to appease others. I would tell myself to consider where I wanted to be in ten years. Except that you will lose people, but you will gain new, interesting people.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, knowing what I know now about college life and making the transition, I would tell myself that procrastination only results in failure, and all the decisions that you make will eventually have a consequence. Things are not handed to you, you have to want better for yourself, and in order to get where you want to go in life it is very vital to take upon any opprotunity that passes your way. Life begins to get more complicated, and you will finally realize that the only person that is responsible for your decisions is you. There is always going to be an obstacle, it may be financially or academically, but it is important to learn from those situations, to allow yourself to make better choices for the future. Enjoy yourself and have fun, but always remember that your education is now the number one priority in your life, and do not ever let anyone or anything come between that. Always surround yourself around positive people that understand what you are going through. Most importantly, remember your morals, and stay true to who you are!

College is a learning experience. It is the time in your life when you are given both the most amount of freedom and the most responsibilities. It’s about maturing and trying to find that balance between your social life and school. Sometimes you will be faced with hard decisions that force you to male grown-up decisions. Such as going out to a party this Saturday night or staying home to study for the chemistry exam that will make or break your final grade. At the end of the day earning a degree and maintaining a high gpa are your top priorities; however, you will waver here and there along the way. My advice oto my high school self would be to go I with an open mind. Make friends, have fun, do your school work first so you have time for yourself, believe in your abilities and enjoy the greatest time of your life.

My largest piece of advice would be to focus on college majority of the time and prepare myself for what I'm about to encounter. Senior year was nothing but a breeze, but I lost the motivation to study and work hard once I entered college since I was able to form the habit of paying no attention in class and still receiving good grades. I would have gotten on myself for slacking and to also help my parents out financially. I did not apply to one single scholarship program last year when I graduated high school because I expected my parents to pay for school like they said they always would have. I failed to even consider how expensive out of state schooling even costs let alone factored in my parents salary. I have two younger brothers as well, and became selfish expecting that everything would just be taken care for me. I would have told my self to do anything and everything to even get a few scholarships because, right now, anything would help. Looking back I have seen the mistakes I made and realize that minor changes to my approach would have made a drastic difference.

“Lucas, I know you can be somewhat lazy sometimes, but for the love of all that is holy be more organized with your school work! It’s time for you to wake up and smell the textbook scented flowers. No more, ‘This stuff is easy why should I have to study this material? I know a majority of it’. You’re going to have to balance lacrosse practices/games, a job, and schoolwork. That means you are going to be swamped with piles of work and no energy to wade through it all. I know you think you can handle it on your own and that everything will be fine because it will be just like high school, only bigger. Well, sorry kid, but you’re wrong. Teachers aren’t as understanding and it is way more difficult. So here’s what you have to do. First, go get a planner, and here’s the important part: USE IT! Second, there’s free tutoring. That’s right free, and bonus they know what they’re doing. And lastly, don’t day dream about that girl that is sitting across the room in your weather and climate class. Pay attention!”

If i were to talk to my senior self, I would advise myself to not worry so much and just enjoy high school. In my 4 years I worked extremely hard to get good grades in all my advanced classes, and it did help me prepare for college, but I do not feel like I would have done any worse if I hadn't taken those advanced classes. High school is a students last chance to have fun before it really counts, and they should take advantage of that. I would recommend playing sports, taking different elective classes, making tons of friends, not worrying about friends that cause drama, and simply enjoying whatever it is you're doing. There's plenty of time to hit the books and be serious in college, so why be serious in high school? There's definitely still fun to be had in college, but college also comes with a lot of priorities that need to be straightened out before one can go play. So enjoy yourself why you can and don't stress about the little things.