University of Nevada-Reno Top Questions

If I could go back in time I would honestly tell myself just one thing. This one thing is something that I seem to think about every day since I decided to go to college. It may seem odd and not geared especially toward education but I feel that it is something completly necessary. The one thing that I would tell myself would be to trust in myself as well as to trust in my family. After all, even if college is a bust and you are at the lowest point you could ever be at you will always have yourself and your family to pick you back up and to push on to the next life defining moment in your life. My family has been one of the most dependable and supportive force in my life and for that I am forever greatfull.

Congratulations and welcome to a bit of advice for your future. One big fact you need to know is the importance of the next few years of being at college. Here are a few main points to help you along the way. First, do not be afraid to be yourself. You will meet a million different people who seem fascinating and driven and you might feel intimidated by them. Do not be ashamed to be you and find pride in what you are. Second, work hard. Spend time to do all your homework and study. Find pride in your grades and how much they can affect you. Third, be prepared for the entire academic challenges you are about to face. High school is easy and fun. College is fun but will push you to work hard to get ahead. Face the challenge and overcome it. Without great challenges, nothing would be worth fighting for. Fight for a better tomorrow and a better future. Fourth, grow. This is the best time of your life. Explore new horizons. Try different activities and do not be afraid to discover new ideas. Good luck and never stop fighting for what you want.

As I was growing up, I heard the expression, "If I only knew then, what I know now." Now that I am an adult, I I think the exact same way! If i could talk to myself at that time, with the knowledge I have now, I would say to put my education on the top of my priority list. I got involved in a serious relationship, began raising someone else's child, and put my education on the back burner. I got so wrapped up in working and paying bills, that I couldn't go to school full-time. I could not get any financial aid then, but I did pay for a few classes here and there with money from waitressing. I am happy that I was able to get some credits under my belt. If I could tell the highschool me one valuable piece of advice, it would be: to be aware of the scholarship opportunities, and do everything possible to go full time. Now, I am 26 years old, and have many more years left of school. If only I had of went full fledge right out of highschool, I would be nearly done!

Take advantage of office hours to get to know your professor and receive extra help when you need it. It often can make the difference of your grade if you are borderline and want a higher grade. The professor is much more likely to consider rounding your grade if you took extra time to get help on material and come to office hours. I would also suggest going to all review sessions and studying with others. It gives you the opportunity to take the same information from a different perspective that would be able to help you. It also helps create friends and support systems in really hard classes.

I'd give myself the advice of not trusting UNR due to its unfair policies.

Do not overlook the "cheap" schools. A low-cost education does not necessarily correlate to a low-quality education. In fact, most of these “low-cost” schools still offer a great education, plus they generally have many clubs and activities to take part in. Is going to a school that will land you a hundred thousand dollars in debt really worth it? Is the difference in quality so drastic that you are willing to graduate with debt comparable to that of buying a house? The answer, in all probability, is no – the financially feasible colleges still have so much to offer. While the primary reason for attending college is to get an education, it is also very important to grow as a person. Try new things! Join clubs you may not even have an interest in! Meet new people! It’s all about the experience you have, and you can create a great experience no matter where you choose to attend. College is what you make of it, so make the best of it!

Dear Brianna, Knowing what I know now about college there are a few things I would like to tell you. Everyone's telling you to stay close to home and commute to school so you can stay close to friends...don't listen to them! Follow your heart and make decisions that will better your life. Get focused as early as possible and really make an effort to keep your grades up. You will be surprised how proud of yourself you will be when you make the Dean's list. You are allowed (and encouraged) to have your own opinions in college, do not be afraid to speak up when yours differ from someone elses. Get involved and do more community service! Your college experience will be so much more fulfilling when you start serving others instead of yourself. Most importantly, stop underestimating yourself. You will go so much further in life when you start to believe you can do it. With Love and Encouragement, Brianna P.S. You will learn more in college than you ever thought possible...get excited!

If I could go back in time and give my highschool self some advice it would be this. Turn in all paperwork early so that any problems that arise can be fixed early on. Also don't be afraid to talk to the faculty they are there to help and will do what they can to work with you, they want you to suceed not fail. Lastly I would advise not to be afraid to go to the room next door and say hi. You never know who you'll meet until you try and they could very well become some of the best friends you've ever had.

I would tell myself that there's nothing to stress about and to be myself. College is so big and there are too many people on campus who have their own problems that they arent going to remember if you did something emarrassing or stupid. Also it is so important to keep track of when assignments are due and to keep up with readings in textbooks so I don't fall behind. I would also tell myself not to be self concious about using they study tools available like the help writing center and the chem help center. I would stress to myself to use these to my advantage so I can do better in my classes and to take advantage of the free tutoring that is provided.

I would tell myself to be more outgoing and to talk more in class when I got to college. College is not like high school and the sense of community and acceptance makes it fun to join in activities and clubs. Talking in class and with the professor is also a great thing about college and two of the best ways to gain knowledge and insight. I would also tell myself that the two yearly scholarships I received in high school would not be nearly enough to cover my expenses and that I should start applying for more scholarships, and continue to do so every year. I would also tell myself that my two community college years would be the easiest, and instead of sitting at home, I should take the opportunity to make friends and enjoy myself. Most importantly, I would tell myself that when studying gets hard and there’s a lot of pressure to get good grades, to not stop hanging out with friends entirely and lose them as a result. Grades are important, but too much pressure is bad and it is your friends that can help you through the hard times, not more work.

I would tell myself to not freak out about college because even though it is hard and important it is still pretty fun to be in. Also I would tell myself to start studying a lot harder and reading more because in college you do both a lot of studying and definitely a lot of reading. Another thing that I would tell myself is that you should start saving money for rent and tuition sooner because in college you will be broke most of the time and to apply to as many scholarships as possible because every penny counts in the college world. One last thing I would tell myself is to not over extend yourself when it comes to working and going to school because it is not fun at all to be working 35 hours at a management job plus going to college full time because you do not have time to do anything.

Given the opportunity, I would have told myself three things about transitioning to a university: first, that you should have checked and double-checked my schedule against my graduation requirements; second, that you should have learned as much about transportation as possible in a new city; and third, that making friends quickly will spare you the uncertainty of making friends when people already know and trust a group that doesn't include you. Any one of these things is a problem by itself. I have dealt with all of them in my first semester. Hard work and patience can only go so far when you make your own problems to begin with. I have conquered all of these problems, but with planning, I could have put that time and energy to better use - by taking all the right classes, spending less time waiting for buses, and planning group events instead of getting to know people at them. You will have a good time. But don't make yourself work for a nice experience that could come with no strings attached. Plan.

That is simple - I would tell myself to be more out going and not focus as much on the grades. As a high school student I was very involved with student government, sports, clubs, community service, and several other activities. Once I got to my first semester in college I decided to make grades my number one priority. Looking back on it now, getting involved in some clubs, going out and meeting my professors at a more personal level, and even going out with friends would have made my entry into college much smoother. Being involved would also have made the outcome more rewarding. I have discovered that grades, in the long run, are not as important as the people you meet and the skills you acquire. College is an experience, not a series of tests to show the world you learned the material. From here on out I am going to make sure that I put the experience above the grades, and learn the material while applying the knowledge to my future career.

As I look back on my life, I now know that education is the most important thing there is. My high school days were very hectic for me due to several tragic family issues in life. Such as my mother being addicted to drugs and the death of my brother one day before I turned 16, yet I have learned that things in life just simply happen with us having no control. If I could go back in time and tell myself one thing about high school, it would simply be just do it. I dropped out with the death of my brother and tried returning to school for a year but it simply was not my priority in life at the time. I eventually got my GED and school was never the same. As I have been in college now for a few years, the importance of education has hit me with a profound impact and I seek nothing more than knowledge and the ability to help others.

Don’t give up! It’s not over yet. I know that this time of your life is very confusing given the recent circumstances with your parents’ divorce, but you will soon find out that you will persevere through adversity. Believe it or not, you still have a long road of education ahead of yourself so you may as well get used to reading; a lot. I know you may seem completely oblivious as to what you may want to do with your life but let me assure you that you will find what interests and motivates you to achieve success. You will go through extremely challenging life events in the near future but do not let them hinder you; they should only add the fuel to the fire of your intellectual potential. You will find that thriving on adversity is one of the most powerful motivational factors of life. You will go through heartbreak, extreme poverty, and severe depression. However, all of these factors will make your goals taste like the nectar of the Gods when you finally achieve them.

Dear High School Self, School is your safe space. You wish words like addiction and abuse weren’t part of your home life. You cried with your mom as your dad continued to make poor choices. Stop blaming yourself and pushing yourself to be perfect. Like many kids out there you had to be a grown up much sooner than your friends, working to help pay rent and saving for school. None of it was your fault. Know that these hardships will make you a better person for having experienced them and college will be a safe place for you. The coping skills, reality checks, and work ethic you gained from hard times at home will be the keys to your success. Use them. There will be others you encounter who share your story. Get to know them better. Support each other. You will discover who you want to be, eventually continuing on to get your masters and working towards a doctorate. The one regret you will have is not studying abroad! Don’t be afraid to finish school in 4.5 years to gain that international experience. In college you will be more than fine. You will be fabulous.

Don't worry, past me, you'll adapt to college with flying colors. I just came to tell you how to do even better. First, you NEED to apply for scholarships. If you do the math, your expected hourly rate is over 30 dollars an hour. Second, (and I already did this one, by the way), a time-blocked daily schedule is unbelievably effective at getting stuff done. I'll probably sound like a bad infomercial here, but it conclusively solved my procrastination problem, and discouraged goofing off. You make a chart with one square for each waking hour, and at the end of each day, you fill in the squares with what you will be doing at that hour next day, and save it as your desktop background, so you'll always see what you are supposed to be doing. It is amazing. Also, apply to the Honors Program, take a summer class or two, search for the writings of Cal Newport, Steve Pavlina, and Mr. Money Mustache (they will help and inspire you on your self-improvement quest), try to adapt to a biphasic sleep cycle, and check out Vocaloid music. Hopefully this will be useful!

Apply for as many shcolarships as you can. In high school I overlooked a lot of scholarships because they had essays or because I didn't quite fit the requirement as much as some of my classmates. This year I asked my friend how she got so many scholarships and she said that she applied for twenty times more than she received. So this time around I am putting my name through everything that I apply for. I wish I had done that as a high school senior. My parents never had a lot of money to help with school and I knew that they were probably unable to pay for it all, but I never applied for a lot of scholarships. That is my one regret. I have no problems with transitioning into school. I did everything right in high school. I could have tried harder to get every single A, but I graduated with honors, my neck adorned with many cords. I just wish that I had applied for every scholarship that fit me, that I saw.

I would tell myself to go to college and get the most out of the classes that you can. Life today is hard to find a job that pays well without having a college degree of some type. I would also tell myself that just spending a little extra time looking for grants and scholarships is worth not having to be in debt after I graduate. The only problem being is that I would probably not believe myself so I would have to find some way to show the past me that it would be worth it in the long run instead of getting into trouble like I did. I would also always encourage the fact that it is never to late to start getting education even if it is one class at a time. A little bit of confusing paperwork to fill out is better than having a lifetime of college debt to pay back after I receive a degree. I wish I could go back and start over knowing what I know now. I would be able to accomplish a lot more in my life than what I have already done.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a senior, I would tell myself to enjoy high school while it lasts. College is no joke, and requires all of your attention. I would teach myself better studying habits and find ways to manage my time better. I'd tell myself to not worry so much about how much it costs to go to college and focus on filling out more scholarship applications and studying hard.