University of Maryland-University College Top Questions

High school is an interesting time for all of us. We see it portrayed in the media and in our popular culture, and we hold it to so many different standards. At the time, it seems like the most important years of our lives, and I fell into that trap of thinking. Looking back, I did not find myself or my true identity in high school. I did not make friends that would be with me for life. I did not change the world or live each day dedicated to a passionate cause or goal. If I could, I would go back and tell myself to simply focus on my grades and let all else fall into place. High school is merely a stepping stone; a “tool” that leads you to college. College is what changes you and develops you. College is what will lead you to a career and a purposeful life.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell my self to be confident. Confidence is the most important thing in achieving your goals, with out it, you are completely hopeless. I have gained a tremendous amount of confidence with in the last two years and it has helped me a great deal. I have been able to achieve things that I never thought possible and I have gained the respect of several of my peers. With my confidence, I was able to become a national certified EMT and a nursing assistant, I was able to graduate high school and I was able to work full time and go to school full time. Although my journey has been difficult and there were many times that I believed that I could never make it, I maintained my confidence in myself and pulled through it. Who would have ever thought that one word; one action can do so much for a person?

I would tell myself to calm down and take time to smell the roses. My entire high school career, I spent worring about college. You see I had no money and no idea where my parents were so I could not even complete the fafsa. I got accepted into amazing schools. All of my dream schools, but I did not even get the chance to go. So I joined the military and now that money has run out. I would tell myself just to have fun because it is not always fair. Sometimes you don't get what you earned. I would say Ash go have fun and stop worrying. You will find your way.

Studies may seem challenging and sometimes solving a new problem may seem impossible. Nevertheless, the first step is to recognize the issue and work to make the corrections. Applying additional time into studying will always work in your advantage. You should work to obtain as much knowledge as you possible can. Additionally, there is a wealth of knowledge in books, my suggestion is taking the time to gain a full understanding and avoid shortcuts. Every piece of knowledge will reward you in life; this includes college and in your future career. Someday it will feel extremely rewarding to deliver your knowledge. You will be so empowered to share your proficiency with others. The opportunity to learn will surround you daily. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and if we look around we can learn from one another. As you become more attentive you will eventually learn how to become efficient. Ultimately, everyday is ever changing, which proves that learning is infinite, it is up to you to apply it.

I would tell myself that even though I don't have a lot of experience or money and things seem blue at times- NEVER DOUBT MYSELF. That I'm capable of doing extraordinary things. Who knows, I could find the cure for cancer. John Green worte, “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking how you'll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.” I would tell myself to live in the present and live it up every single day and go where you want to be. Instead of looking for a person from your dreams, be the person of your dreams. I would tell myself this because if you set a goal, and don't stop until it's accomplished, one day you will achieve that goal.

If I could go back in time the advice that I would give myself as a high school senior is, "Never give up on yourself, if you fail just keep trying until you succeed". The first semester of College is so crucial, it can make or break students and may even derail their future if unsuccessful. Unfortunatley I know this from experience, I started off my freshman year straight out of high school, moved into a college campus and naievly thought I knew exactly what being a college student would be like. Needless to say it was a time to sink or swim and I could not stay afloat, the transition itself was a process, and the workload seemed impossible, I quickly began to loose confidence and before I knew it I was drowning. I felt like I failed my parents who had invested everything into me, but not only did I fail my parents, I failed my younger sister who always looked up to me. Despite what happened that semester I returned to school, and I didnt give up on myself in fact I went back more confident then ever and by next semester I was getting A's.

First, take the SATs. You'll regret not taking them later. Second, begin researching universities now instead of waiting or you'll end up going to a university your father picks for you. Third, you are good enough to survive in this world. You have an intelligent, creative brain and you will succeed if you apply yourself while studying a subject you excel at (I recommend picking psychology from the start. You'll thank me later when you realize that becoming a forensic psychologist can happen for you). Fourth, submit the romance novels you've written to a publisher. Seriously. Just do it. Fifth, you're a transsexual. Deal with it already and move on with your life. There's no point in being angry and stopping yourself from moving forward. Instead, become who you are and IMMEDIATELY apply to the universities of your choice. Then, enroll in a university that appeals to you and begin an undergraduate degree in psychology (the minor can be in anything, but I know you'll pick English) as soon as possible. You'll have your undergraduate degree by age 21 instead of 23 and you'll like that. I promise.

Now that I have had a chance to experience the hardships of adult life, I would tell myself don't waist your youth. Get into school quick and stay until your finish your degree. The older you get the harder it is to go back to school and finish. Once you finish one degree continue persuing your next degree which will keep you marketable within society. Finally, I would tell myself to never give up and keep setting goals and chasing your dreams.

The advice that I would give myself as a high school senior would be to focus on learning time management. Throughout high school, I was told college is difficult and scary. College isn't difficult nor scary, it's all about managing your time wisely in order to get your work done. As long as you don't procrastinate and allow yourself enough time to get your work done, college will be a breeze.

I would say to expect the unexpected. As a high school senior, I thought I knew it all, and thought that the plans I had for college would go exactly as predicted. As it turns out, I have had my fair share of valuable experiences, and have grown because I let go. Not everything should be planned, but the motivation to improve and succeed should always remain prevalent.

Encourage myself to continue to endure the hardships that I have faced. Tell myself to avoid sex because it will lead to pregnancy which intern will alter my future life, and increase the hardships that I will have to deal with first providing for the child and myself. Also I will tell myself that school must be the first priority in life for any young person that including myself. Going back to school and/or college after giving birth to a child/children is not an option at all. You can not juggle being a mother let alone single parent; being a student; an employee; care-taker etc. without performing any of the tasks poorly. So I will caution myself to first wait and stay in school until I get the degree at least Bachelors before thinking about men.

If I could go back in time to my high school years, I would tell myself to prepare for the future. When I was in high school, I took it for granted and didn't think about my future. I lived in the now, and told myself that I will deal with college when the time comes. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to take college level classes. I would take as many advanced placement and college level classes so I could get most of them out of the way. It would of made my transition to college much sooner and I would probably have received a lot more scholarships to ease the burden of the cost of college.

I would tell myself that there is nothing to be afraid of and that everything has its ways of working themselves out. Finances are not an excuse, there are so many programs out there and scholarship opportunities, all you have to do is take the time to research them and apply. There is also nothing wrong with starting out at a community college, it costs less and you meet so many people from so many different backgrounds. College may be a lot of work but the expierence you gain, the people you meet, and the education you recieve are well worth it in the end. You can balance having fun with making sure to get you work done and take care of your responsibilities, but know what you get out of your education is all about what you are willing to put into it. There is more to your education than just passing a class, it's all about what you learn from it and the information you take with you and use in the future.

There are so many things I would like to have known then that I know now. My senior year was pretty productive since I only went to high school half a day and took college courses in the morning. I wish I would have warned myself that being a high school student in Community College courses, the teachers took it a little easier on me. I would have liked to know that leanancy is definitely not in the vocabulary of a state college professor. Timelines are more strict and a due date is really a due date. I would have loved to just prepare myself for a more strict time schedule and maybe purchase a few extra organizers and schedulers before coming to school. I would also let myself know that effort really does matter and spending that extra study night hitting the books makes all the difference come test time. Studying the night before doesn't cut it in college, and funny thing is, the stuff I learned in high school classes is the stuff they refer to in college classes. I wish I would have known to actually pay a bit more attention.

I faced many self inflicted challenges as a college student, so the most important advice I would instill in myself would be to never give up. It sounds cliche, but these three words could have changed my life. It took 12 years to obtain my bachelor's because I gave up. After completing my associate's degree in two years, I transferred to UMUC to begin working toward my bachelor's degree. Upon transferring I became pregnant, and since UMUC is a college designed for working adults this should not have been a problem. Unfortunately, I never made enough time for my studies. As a result I withdrew from classes, failed classes, was put on academic probation and eventually was discharged. After years of feeling like a failure I decided to go back to school. I had to write numerous letters begging for reinstatement, and thankfully, was eventually allowed to return. That was almost four years ago. Since then I have completed my degree and am now in my third semester of graduate studies. Even though my educational career is now on track, I am still paying back student loans for classes I never completed; all because I gave up.

As a high school senior, I would look at my grades and be sure that I was doing my absolute best in high school and also would apply for grants, scholarships and financial aid every year in a timely fashion and talk to my high school counselor about fields of study and look at what majors offer the best choice of career opportunity for me!

Knowing what I know now about college, I would tell my high school self to really get yourself together. There is no such thing as being overly prepared for college. The most difficult part of college is being able to become a well rounded person, and it isn't something that teachers teach in high school, but is knowledge gained at home. Being able to manage a job, volunteering, completing clinicals for a class, and school work all together is frustrating and it will seem like the world is crashing on you. While the world is crashing on you, try to find things in school or outside of school that makes you feel better about yourself. I find challenges to be very difficult but can also make you feel accomplished. Overcoming a challenge gives you such a great feeling that you have never felt, but remember that it just means that there is an even greater challenge to face. Overall, get yourself together, and know what you want to do. Don't let the harshness of college make you forget why you went in the first place, but make something better out of it.

There is not much I would change about my life because I believe everything happens for a reason, but I would change the amount of attention I gave to my teachers in high school. I have wasted much time and money taking courses in college that I should have learnt in high school if I had paid attention. I am ashamed to say that at many times in my higher education I was taking courses that should have been refresher classes, but to me they were first time knowledge because I was too busy in high school goofing off to learn when the education was free. I would definitely smack my high school self to pay attention to the valuable knowledge. I must say I love learning now!

Looking back, I would advise my younger self to take more AP courses and focus more on my academics. I did not get poor grades, but I do regret not applying to more scholarship opportunities before graduating. Also, I would strongly encourage myself to participate in even more extra curricular activities, both for the boost on college applications and for the experience one attains by being a part of their community.

You can do it! There is a lot of help available at the schools and you do not need to start by looking for help at home. It is so worthwhile to do this and invest in yourself. It is much different from high school. You can choose your classes and direction. You can follow your interests. It's a lot of fun and can teach you so much more about yourself. There is a lot more out there than you realize and you are going to want every second you have to be able to explore it all. There is so much more than the small frame of reference you have experienced. You can do whatever you choose. Great or small, let it be your choice, not the decision of your circumstance. Go for it!