University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Top Questions

I attended Hillsborough Community College for the past three years and graduated May, 2010 with an Associates in Arts degree. My college experience has been very rewarding and life changing. Although it is just a two year community college, the professors there wanted me to excel and motivated me to learn all the material they covered. Not only did they help me succeed as a student, they helped to shape and mold the person that I am planning on becoming in the future. I was undecided of what I wanted to become, but with their help I know for a fact that I want to pursue a program in the medical field. I do not regret attending HCC and will never say it was a waste of time. I actually value my experience there very much because as a result, I have now been accepted into Florida Atlantic University and am planning to major in Pre-Health Professions. I began taking small steps at HCC, but they taught me to take bigger ones, to exceed my potential, and to accomplish my set goals. Now i have a promising future thanks to the time spent at HCC.

It's made me realize that what I've learned in high school only helps me 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the time. The rest I have to figure out on my own through making a lot of mistakes and regrets on how I should have done things had I known what I know now. I think attending college in general is valuable in giving you a lesson about expectations and how you find disappointment in a lot of people and things, including yourself.

I have learned so much while in college, and it just furthers me to my future goal, which is going to law school. Knowledge is so valuable to people, and I feel everyone should go to college. It betters your knowledge of the world, yourself, and it furthers your future and possibilities. I am the first person in my eight sibling family to go to college with a plan to go further then just a two year degree, and I am very proud of that. My education is the most important thing to me, and I just wish I had the financial ability to go as much as I would like. I have gotten lots of joy from my college experience, friends, and making me that much closer to making my dream of becoming a lawyer a reality.

My college experience has been very stimulating. I have gained exposure to many opportunities for different careers and social interactions. I have learned the difficulty in balancing the academics with the personal life and to be independent from my parents. Many problems can to be resolved as long as I remember deadlines. I have my own voice and can navigate university life on my own. The campus of UNC Chapel Hill can be very overwhelming. It is up to the individual to get as involved as one wants. This can be challenging for a shy person such as myself. I tried volunteering with different organizations. I was interested in swimming with an on campus club however the appropriate pool is closed on campus. So I joined a sorority through which I have made many friends. As a result I am meeting people from many different avenues of life. I hope to study abroad in order to learn about people from other cultures. I have tried different courses in order to learn about varying career fields. Currently I am considering a career with the U.S. State Department in the Foreign Service. I believe this has been a very fruitful year.

I learned too late that true friends come with time and can't be guaranteed by changing my own prioroities or personality to impress others. During my junior and senior years, I found myself trying to balance social activities/interests, my first job, and band with my academics. My performance waned a little; not to the point of missing my dream of attending UNC, but enough to lower my overall rank outside the range of higher value scholarships. This distraction also left me less prepared for the demand of personal study discipline that is crucial for college excellence.

If I were to talk to myself in the past and give any imformation about the transformation from high school into college, I would tell myself, "It's as hard as they say." Every single teacher in high school would constantly tell us students that college life is completely different than that of high school and that we need to be prepared for the tasks ahead. A counselor once told me, "Experts say that every student should send in at least five scholarships in a day." Consequently, I did not listen to this very bright and helpful advice. Instead, I had only applied for a couple of certain scholarships that I thought I would be sure to acquire. All of the sudden, everything came so fast and I had so many things to take care of and pay for. The me in the past would be very ready for the college life after I had a little sit-down with him.

College is a drastically different experience from that of high school both socially and academically. As a college freshman it is easy to feel confused and overwhelmed by the vast amount of change one's life has undergone in such a short period of time. Yet throughout the whole process of growing, adjusting, and maturing I have come to find that the most vital thing is to be true to oneself. If you are true to your values, hopes, morals, and goals then the rest will fall in place and you will never be disappointed in yourself. For this reason if I was able to give myself any piece of advice prior to entering college it would be to have confidence in my ability to make the right decisions and to have the integrity to stand up for what I believe in. College is a trying time and a challenge of self discovery. Despite the sometimes frightening aspects, it is a wonderful opportunity to become immersed in a rich and fulfilling educated environment.

If I could go back to the past and talk to myself as a sophomore, I would say several things. One of the first I would say is to keep up with your classes. It may not look like much, but you can be buried with homework, if you choose to procrastinate. Another thing I would say is to read all of the assignment given by the professor. Also, to go out and to have fun as well as go to as many home games as you can. Be proud of going to one of the countries most prestigous colleges.

The first thing I would do is tell myself that it will all work out and that I will enjoy my time spent at UNC. I was out-of-state and very nervous about not knowing anyone else at college. The weeks leading up to my departure from Florida were filled with anxiety. However, if I would have known that I would love it here so much, I would have been a bit more confident and excited. I also would advise myself to find more clubs to be involved in. Although I am very grateful for my sorority and athletic support clubs, I wish I would have participated in more service activities. Giving back to the community is important to me and I wish I would have joined a big-sister little-sister program. I think the most valuable advice I could give myself is to stay confident in my school work. There were many times where I felt as though I let myself down and would panic when it came to testing. If I could have found a way to calm myself earlier in my college career, I think I would have succeeded even more.

If I could go back in time and give advice to myself, I would mention how important it is to work as hard as you can all the time. I realized that although I worked hard in the past to get to where I am, I did not put as much effort into my studies as I should have. I strive to be exceptional at all times. To be exceptional and receive what you want, you have to give 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}, not 96 or 99, but 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. Also, I learned that if you want something as much as I wanted to attend the university that I currently attend, you have to work relentlessly in order to obtain what you desire. Aristotle once said, ?We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.? By being consistent and striving to perform at my highest level at all times, I feel that my future will be even brighter.