University of Dayton Top Questions

College will allow you to be the person you want to be. You do not have to fill the the roles given to you by others. In high school, there are cliques, whether you have recognized them or not. Look around you during lunchtime, the table you sit at is filled with athletes, while the table to your left is filled with students who formed a book club, sharing their thoughts on different pieces of literature. Just because you are an athlete doesn't mean you can't study Robert Frost. Notice, everyone at your table carries their packed lunch in a brown bag. Is your turkey sandwhich a little warm and slightly slimy? Do you ever want to bring a lunchbox with an ice pack inside to keep it cool? Would that be cool? College is always regarded as the "best years" of your life. It is not because of the heavy workload, long nights, and stressful testing enviroments, believe me. It is because you have a chance to change your identity. No, you cannot be George Clooney, but you can be the Paul you have always wanted to be.

Seeing my depressed, defeated, and broken high school self would bring back some very difficult memories. I would have more than a few words to say to my senior self if I had the chance. I would say that it gets better. That after I walk accross that stage on graduation, I will enter a new life at the best university there is. No longer will students judge for having panic attacks, and being crippled by depression. New classmates, roommates, and faculty will soon embrace you and show you the true potential you have. The University will soon become your family, and the sheer amount of joy and love that fills the campus air is enough to calm any anxious heart. I would say that the potenial found in the University of Dayton classrooms will motivate you to be the best you can be, and create a dream you never knew you had. I would look into the eyes of my high school senior self, and just say to hold on, because a new, amazing life is awaiting.

If I could go back in time and have a conversation with my high school self, I would only have one word of advice: relax. I found that every process I endured my freshman year of college such as saying goodbye to my parents, failing my first test, and spending my birthday without my family was stressful and difficult but looking back now, I have grown from all of it and am stronger. I had no reason to worry because I studied harder and didn't fail my next test, called my parents everyday to talk, and spent my birthday with the closest friends I've ever had so instead of stressing out or freaking out, I should have just relaxed. College is never going to be easy, and life won't either, but everything in life always has a way of working itself out. One test or even one class is not important in the grade scheme of life. So relax, enjoy life, and realize that everything will end up beautiful.

From the moment you step foot on campus, there are things you should understand to graduate with the best experience, strong relationships, and ultimately a job in your chosen career field. First, it is far easier to maintain a GPA than it is to raise one. Your first and second year curriculum will likely not be related to you major but do not disregard them; they still count towards your GPA. With that said, a good GPA isn’t everything either. Employers are not impressed with just a number on a page, but are interested in the story that shows what you have done to achieve that number and outside of academics. Regarding your social life, if you’re always the life of the party, then you’re also the one that will be taken less seriously in most cases. Being liked and being respected are different things; respect is far more valuable. Also, do not look to fall in love because you will settle. Let it happen naturally and focus on you. Everybody is attracted to somebody that has a promising future. Lastly, have fun. Four years goes by faster than you can imagine .

The biggest piece of advice I would give myself is that you absolutely have to manage your time. Prioritize your classwork, and make sure its done before you do anything else. Also, college is harder than high school. You won't be able to just coast by without studying. You need to put in the work to have any success.

If I were capable of giving advice to my high-school-senior self, I imagine the conversation would go something like this: "Emily Elizabeth Voelz, get a grip and CHILL OUT. There are literally so many great things you can experience, and you are not doing anyone favors by taking the back seat. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS. Not to be corny, but YOLO. You only live once, and although this has turned into a derogatory phrase, it is so true. Blaze a trail for yourself, and don't let your constant worrying and fears hold you back. You are capable of so much when you put your mind to it, so you might as well gain some confidence and go for it! Live in a way with which you are proud; in a way that, when you look back on your life, you will be satisfied. There are so many things that are more important than what you got on that anatomy presentation or calculus quiz. Be proud of who you are and who you can become. Do what makes you happy. And, most importantly, CHILL OUT.

Listen, kid: you have work to do. Get used to it. It seems like integrating home life and school life will make things easier, but if you go into college with that attitude, you won't put in the effort that you should. You'll crash, and you'll burn, and you'll be upset and angry at nobody but yourself. You'll lose your scholarship, thinking like that. You'll kick yourself for not caring enough. The time for slacking off is over; you've overstayed your welcome in that department anyway. You keep telling yourself that you can be great if you apply yourself, so apply yourself. It'll be hard, yeah, but if it's not hard then it's probably not worth it. It feels like a struggle, and you won't snap out of your cycle of procrastination and self-loathing because you've convinced yourself that the alternative will destroy you. It won't. It will rebuild you. You will feel better. You will be better. You will sit at your clean desk and know that soon you can check "give advice" off of your to-do list. Now get to work.

I would give myself the advice of not being afraid. There are so many opportunities that I have missed over the years of college that I have lost because I was afraid I couldn't do it, or I wouldn't be good at it. I went into college thinking that it would be competetive and so different, and I have held myself back from some things I was more than capable of doing. You will meet all kinds of people in college and you will have all kinds of chances to be who you are and noone is going to judge you. I was afraid of being myself for the first semester my freshman year, until I realized that noone was judging me on who I was. There are always people just like you, and if you search just a little, you will find exactly where you fit in. I found that out when I opened myself up to UD and all of the people here. So my advice to myself is to not be afraid. Don't be afraid of being yourself, taking chances, and doing something you don't usually do. You won't regret it.

If I could go back to my high school senior self, I would tell myself to slow down. As a senior I was working full time, 40 hours a week at the age of 17. I would jump at the chance to miss class to go to work, because my manager would excuse me and I would just say, “I’m a senior, it’s not like it really matters.” It does matter, my grades got worse and I didn’t even get into my number one school choice, The University of Wyoming. I would not go back and tell myself to study this or do this with your life, because I didn’t decide to study nursing until last semester. I would want myself to know that yes a good paycheck was nice, but having a good gpa is better. I have been working like crazy in school to get to where I am now and to make up for what I missed in high school. School and life doesn’t get easier, but it gets more rewarding, which is what I would tell my senior self.

If I could go back and tell my senior self, I would definitely make sure that I knew how different college would be. I would tell myself to enjoy senior year as much as possible, and not to take a moment for granted. Most importantly, I would make sure I knew how much I would miss being involved in theater and to make sure I got as involved as possible. As far as for the acedemic aspect, I would make sure I knew just how different the transition would be. I'd make sure I had good study skills and that I had the work ethic a head of time that you need when you get to college.

The one thing I would tell my senior year self would to be more comfortable with who I am as a person and to not change in order to make people like me. My freshmen year, I changed myself into someone I really did not like in order for my "friends" to like me. I was not happy when I hung out with them but I did not want to be who I really was because these kids were considered cool and I wanted them to like me. Towards the end of freshmen year, I started to realize that I needed to be who I truly was. So, I came into my current year (sophomore year) being who I really am and now I have friends that I can honestly say are my best friends that will be around for my whole life. I would stress to my senior year self to never change; never be afraid of what others think of you and make sure to never make the first priority in your life to be to please someone. I stopped doing that and now I am enjoying life to the fullest with friends that I love the most.

I would tell myself to enjoy high school while I had the chance. College is a lot of work and focus. There is less time with friends and less time for relaxing. Also, I would say to enjoy every moment with your family. It's surprising how much one can miss their parents while at college. I would tell myself to cherish all the moments in the lunch rooms and being silly with my friends. Lastly, I would tell myself to not have such high expectations for the people you will meet in college. After all, like the saying goes; High school never ends.

Having been in college for a semester, I have grown and learned a lot that my high school self was too immature to understand. If I could go back in time and give myself one piece of critical advice, it would actually have nothing to do with my education. Academics are important, but I also believe that social skills are just as significant. In high school, I was very concerned on being liked. I focused my attention more on how other people felt about me, rather than focusing on how I felt about myself. In college, I have realized it is more important to put the focus on myself and how I feel about myself. I now strive to be the best person I can be; I am friendly to everyone and am more understanding of other’s differences. This change of focus has helped me achieve the friendships that I strived for in high school, but was not able to obtain. By realizing I needed to put more effort into how I treat people, I am a more likeable person and have found my best friends at college.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would have many words of advice to give. First, I would mention how difficult college is and that the transition can not be taken lightly. I would tell myself to start applying myself then because by the time college starts, I need to be ready to try my hardest and do my best. I would also tell myself to enjoy life and slow down because high school goes by so fast, especially senior year. Senior year is a time where memories are made and some of the best moments that will be cherished for ever occurr during senior year. I would end by telling myself just to be the best person I can and to try making a difference because in college, the people who have the biggest affect on others are the one's who are the most caring.

The greatest advice I could give to not only myself as I entered college, but everyone entering college, is to feed your interests. College is a time for students to figure out their true selves and not hold back from what makes them truly happy. There are many cases when people going into college believe they know exactly who they are, what they want to do, and how to do it. It is stubborness that can lead people down the wrong path; for if a person doesn't experience college open-mindedly, he or she may miss somthing that could entirely change the direction of his or her life. Open-mindedness is the key to feeding your intersest; one must surely know what they want to do before they can feed it. With this in mind, I would advise my younger self to open-mindedly talk to many different people, young and old, about their interests and what they hope to do with them in the future. Above all however, I would advise myself to follow my passions and let the things that I am good at and enjoy write my future for me.

I would tell myself not to take everything so seriously. I was so worried about being involved in everything so that it would look good on ny resume, mind you I loved the extracurriculars I was involved in, but it was not worht the stress and demand I put upon myself. I would tell myself to be better at maintaining relationships with people because that is how you grow as a person. I would tell myself to take risks and face fears because you only have one life to live. Lastly, I would tell myself "embrace life".

The only advice I would give myself is to not worry much about the transition, as it was a very smooth one for me.

College life is going to be a major change from your life as a high school student living at home. There are times that you will become homesick, however you will have many loyal and reliable friends that will help you be more comfortable away from home. Although there will be a lot of opportunities to have fun, in order for you to succeed in school you will have to work very hard and have persistance. Do not worry if you are wondering if this school might not be right for you, everything work out and it will be one of the greatest times of your life. You will learn a lot academically, and you will also meet a bunch of wonderful people.

Dear Self, You really did not need to worry about making friends, or picking the right major, or being so far away from home, you made the right choice. UD was a perfect fit for you. It has an amazing campus that you love, your have been able to grow as a person and in your musical experiences, and you have met some incredible people. You didn't need to be scared to try this new place out. You now have two places to call home and you are loved both places. Love, Me

If I could go back and talk to myself as a high school senior about how to succeed in college, I would tell myself to get things done early. It is a lot easier to get things, school related or otherwise, done earlier than have to rush through things at the last minute. The work you do when you have time to focus on it is a lot better and it makes life a little easier because you are not stressing about getting everything done on time. I would also tell myself to have fun! This is college so you need to stay focused on school and do good in your classes but you still need to have fun. Go out with friends and have a good time but stay smart and stay away from dangerous situations that could harm youself or others. That is what I would go back and tell myself as a senior in high school about what to expect in college.