University of California-Riverside Top Questions

"Personalize" each application for each college if possible and know what college admissions officiers want out of people. Maybe go out and do more extra-cirricular activities and socialize more, and finally, get a better GPA.

There is no perfect blue print to the perfect life know that. At age seventeen you will not have the world in your fingertips, in fact you never will, and its okay don’t stress over it. Everything you do, do for yourself never changes what you love to fit in. Life wasn’t meant for you to be like everyone else. Stay true to yourself, besides why would you act like someone you’re not, and be miserable inside for people who can’t love or appreciate you for who you are. Its okay to not be comfortable with doing new things but don’t let that stop you, because let’s face it change is amazing. High school is not everything and don’t let what people label you as be what you think of yourself. Most importantly learn to love yourself. As you enter a new chapter in your life insecurity can be your biggest down fall love yourself always and know your worth.

Treasure your time dancing and the wrestling season as much as you can. This will be the best year you'll ever have with time to dance and a coach to condition you. Every sprawl and cougar drill you do, smile; it will only get you stronger. There's no regret in that. Don't be afraid of anything, just go for it. Every meal that Mom cooks for you, treasure it; there is only so many things Mom can do for you before you have to do it completely on your own, and no one else can take care of yourself better. Whenever the weekend rolls around, go to as many jams as you can and go full out every set at the jam; it doesn't matter, vibe out and have fun...you paid the entrance fee, battle and cypher hard! If friends want to hangout, chill with them on the weekend or whenever you’re free. Enjoy every meal you eat, there is no regret in eating good food after a great practice!

Because my parents were immigrants, they had no knowledge of college admissions and procedures. If I could go back in time, I would definitely tell myself to speak to the career counselors at my high school. If I had made the attempt to be more involved instead of being overcome with anxiety because I was a first generation college student I would have fared much better. The career department or school counslors at my high school would have been well equiped and willing to offer advice. The biggest problem and thing I would change would be to be more vocal about my education goals and concerns and set a plan to achieve those goals. Also, because finances were the most detrimental aspect in my educational career, I would have told myself to actively pursue financial assistence through scholarships. The best definition about life I would tell myself and others as a high school senior is, "Life is tough, but stand your ground and be determined to achieve your goals at all costs because life is about how you pick yourself up and move forward. Let nobody tell you "you cant" and if they do use it as you motivating factor."

If I had the chance to talk to seventeen year old Connie, my main advice to her would be to take risks. When I was seventeen I was shy and afraid of making huge changes and that was especially present when I moved to Riverside in order to continue my education. While I had no idea, taking the risk to move away for my college education was the best decision of my life. I not only accomplished my goal of getting a BA in four years but I also grew as a better person as I took a lot of risks whether it be working part time along with my large schoolwork and my active involvement with various school programs including the LGBT Center as an LGBT Ally. Had I decided to stay the same shy girl who was nervous to go to a new place, I believe I wouldn't have become the strong individual who is moving to San Francisco for grad school as well as for my career objective of working in a non-profit organization.

If I could go back in time and have a talk with my high school self on senior year, I would advice myself not to be afraid of trying new things, to seize the opportunities given to me and learn as much as I can from them. This is important because this is the only way I will know if I truly enjoy doing something; besides more opportunities to participate provide more life experience. Schools and scholarship officials are always interested in knowing the experiences that have shaped you into the individual that you are. I would tell myself to stop contemplating on whether or not I should join the French Club or run for a position; it is an opportunity to get to know faculty and to make friends, as well as impress college admission officers. I would also advice my high school self to challenge myself and take harder classes, and take it as preparation for college. Lastly, I would advice my high school self to spend as much time as I can with family and friends, because childhood ends at graduation and adult life takes over.

For crying out loud, have some fun. There's no sense in telling you to ease up on the constant studying, since I know you won't listen, but you need to get out a little more. I'm not saying you should go wild and party, but join some clubs and make some friends. It makes the transition easier if you have people you can talk to on campus. That first year gets pretty lonely otherwise. Take some fun classes as well--don't wait until graduate school to take courses just because they sound like a kick. Like photography! Go take photography. Or animation. Or something random and having to do with bugs. It doesn't matter what, honestly; just go broaden your experiences and learn for the sheer joy of learning. Don't wait on this, because someday all you'll do is tick the coursework boxes, plodding from point A to point B, and while you'll never regret the fun courses you took (you'll get to take two courses on printing presses later, by the way), you'll certainly regret the ones you didn't take. Road less traveled and all that.

If I could go back in time and give myself advice it would be that I should take school more seriously and learn how to set priorities straight . When i came to UCR I believed that I had it all under control but I didn't. I was paying enough attention just to pass my classes, my GPA was seriously hurt. Now I am paying for it, I learned how to manage my time and set what is important first. I'm paying for the price now, i was not available to join a sorority until my third year, a lot of on campus jobs demanded a high gpa to apply, and all scholarships were closed off to me. all of this made my situation hard my second year, i went through harsh financial problems almost to the point that i was considering to put off school to raise money. i was not enjoying my college experience because i was constantly stressed. So if i would have known to simply manage time and get my priorities straight I would have been living the true college experinece. gladly i learned this before it was too late.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to get mentally and emotionally prepared for the next four years of this new journey in my life. I would tell myself to cherish the memories made in highschool, as well as the teachers, friends, and all the lessons I have learned during my highschool career. I would tell myself to continue practicing time managment, and to continue to work hard in my studies.

I would tell myself to go and take the classes that they give in high school so that I could get ahead because high school is free and college is not. You would be saving yourself time and money.