University of South Dakota Top Questions

The advice I would give my former high school self is the upmost importance of not procrastinating. I did a lot of procrastonating with a lot of things throughout my high school career and I think would have been more sucessful than I am now. Since I started college, I've tackled my procrastionation and I try to get my work done as soon as possible so I have time to do whatever I want after, and I save myself the stress of needing to get it done. Also I procrastonated a lot to get my college application in, but I feel like I rather needed the break. Another thing I would tell myself is to work harder in my last year so that I could have a better GPA to further my college career with even better scholarships.

If I were able to go back and talk to myself during my senior year of high school, I would tell myself two thing. The first thing I would have told myself would be not to slack of scholarships! The second thing that I would tell him would be not to focus on parties and the alcohol as much. The first two years of college consisted of screwing around on the weekends but after I got my associates in Radiology, I realized that working hard on my education was going to get me a lot farther than trying to find the next party to go to.

I would tell myself to take more time in making decisions and better prepare myslef for the future. I would tell myself to attempt to learn to study better and to stay focused when in school, it is very easy to become distracted and it is our job as students to continue to work our hardest throughout our college experience.

Looking back on my high school years I wish I could tell myself many things. For example; not to eat the school cafeteria's macaroni, there's no such thing as a hall pass, and never leave your gym clothes out of your locker while you shower. However, the most important lesson I wish I would have learned in high school is not to settle for anything, then someone tells you to give one hundred percent all the time, do it, and if you have a dream it requires hard work. All of these things come into play when you begin your college search. You must work hard to get through applications and scholarships but never settle for a school that is not what you want. Next, when you get to school remember that although it is important to make friends and memories that last a lifetime, you are ultimately in college to recieve your degree and set yourself up for a life of success. Adjusting to college can be difficult but if you put in hardwork and don't settle for anything less than success, your school will be the perfect fit for you.

Austin, one of the main things that you need to do is to start filling out scholarship applications, you will need money in the future, scholarships are a great way to get that for what you will need in school. Another thing that you will need to work on is your problem with procrastination. Yo will not always want to be staying up until three in the morning typing up essays that are due the next day, even though you have had them assigned for a few weeks. Just get everything done! Also be just out going as you are now. If you keep being the guy you are now you will go far!

If I could go back in time and talk to myself about what I know now about college, I would tell myself to not procrastinate, to not be afraid to meet new people, and to keep your door open on floor of where you are living. Meeting new people in the first couple of weeks is super important because those people will most likely be your friends for the rest of time, or at least while you are living on that floor. Another tip would be to not talk about anyone behind their back. You might think that you can trust that person, but if it puts them ahead with that friend you are talking about, then they will share that information and it will put you in bad terms with that friend. It is not worth it. But overall, just remember to have fun, and grades are important, but the people you meet will impact you for the rest of your life.

As a current working professional running the Career Center at a high school, I help hopeful seniors with college choice, scholarships, part-time jobs, and financial responsibility. My previous, teenage self was not so qualified. I was a first generation college bound student who had inflated ideas of my own capabilites. I was going to be a neonatal surgeon just because it sounded good. The truth is, I was much better at delving into a philosophical discussion and writing short stories and poetry, and though interested, I had my limits with the hard sciences. Knowing all of this now, I would take a very long time to discuss ego and its relatedness to fiscal responsibility and academic choice. I would have steered myself in a more artistic direction than that of the hard sciences, though I do believe personal study in the sciences is incredibly important.

During my junior year of high school my then boyfriend raped as he thought I slept. I told absolutely no one. My family did not know, my group of friends did not know. When I went off to college, I was pulled from the order and schedule that had kept my trauma pushed down. Suddenly, I had an excessive amount of time, during which I spent lost in my confused and painful thoughts. My undergraduate years were some of the worst years of my life. It was not because of the college I attended or leaving home. It was because I did not know there was support for me, that there were options for counseling, that my family and friends cared deeply for me. If I could go back to high school me, I would tell myself to be brave, strong and to not isolate myself. To seek help right then and there and to speak up about what had been done to me. I would tell myself things will get better and to not give up. For me, college was not about getting a degree, it was rediscovering myself and forging ahead as a new, stronger version of me.

I would tell myself to not stress the little things. A B is not as terrible as you might think it is. Sometimes a movie night is more important than studying for a quiz. Professors are also not as scary to talk to as you expect them to be, they are also very helpful and willing to do what they can to help you succeed.

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself this: Don't fear the coming change keep you from feeling excited. You're going off on your own, and you don't know anybody where you're going, so it's ok to feel scared! In fact, you won't be the only person who feels that way. Be open to meeting new people. Attend the first few meetings of the student organizations that interest you. You will meet a lot of like-minded people that way. Be willing to experience new things and change some of your opinions. However, remember who you are at your core and hold on to that person. The biggest piece of advise I can give you is to prepare yourself for strong friendships. Throughout your childhood you have made and lost friends, and you've accepted that as a part of life. But this is the place where you'll meet the people you'll be connected to for a very long lime. Open your heart to them and you'll be surprised how willing they'll be to enter.

Cherish the simple times of unclear skin and boy problems. The complex world soon awaits you.

All of those things that you've always depended on your parents for, such as help with banking, finances, purchasing certain products, insurance, etc, continue to learn more about them. Ask your parents to teach you in addition to helping you and do some research on your own. Some of the activities that you are not worried about at all, may be slightly different when you're out on your own, so be prepared. Also, never EVER act differently than who you are in order to impress or satisfy anyone. You are a beautiful and inspiring person and you deserve to be exactly that. Take courage!

I would have told myself to find as many scholarships as possible. Please don't give up again because now that you've started this terrible debt, you're going to struggle to pay for it for many years. Even though you still have received a scholarship after hundreds of application, don't give up!!

I would tell myself to continue working hard, and staying on track, but I would tell myself that it's ok to have a little fun. I would recognize that I worked too hard between my jobs and school durring highschool, and I would encourage myself to make more friends, attend a couple parties, and live while surrounded by so many familiar people. I thought highschool would last forever, you never think its going to end, then it does, and it hits some people hard. I would tell myself to have a little fun, because once those people are gone, you hardly ever see or hear from any of them again. Although I completed several AP courses, I would also advise myself to take a couple more, going into college with some credits earned deffinitley doesn't hurt a guy, It could allow for me to finish college a little early, or atleast I could have saved myself some money.

I would give myself both practical school-related advice, AND advice on life in general. First of all, dealing with school, I would tell myself to always put my school work first. The social life and many friends that you will make at college will be tempting and time-consuming, but remember why you pay to attend the school, to get high grades and a well-placed career. Dealing with my 'position' in life while at college, I would tell myself to truly stick to being myself. As cliche as it sounds, it is so easy to lose yourself in others' opinions of who you should be. And thirdly, my advice to myself would be to simply live a fun life, because you most likely won't relive these college years again.

My advice would be to take all the science classes you can and research skilled degrees such as nursing or engineering. You don’t have to excel in these classes in high school. You just need the background so that you may do well in them while you are in college. The thing about science classes is that they can be used in any industry you decide, and they pay premium salaries. I would also say to get involved in a science related professional organization. They give you more experience. They look good on your resume, and they also offer scholarships. I would tell myself to look in the help wanted ads to see what jobs are hiring and what they are paying. I would also tell myself that an expensive school is no better than a cheaper school. The final advice I would give myself is to pick a school where you have at least one good friend, so that your freshman social life or lack of social life doesn’t bring down your academic life. You need to have a good balance of social interaction, yet treat studying like a full-time job.

My advice would be to work on study skills. The first semester showed me that I hadn't had very good studying skills. My GPA was a 2.9 which made me so frustrated because I was so used to being on the honor roll in high school. After being so upset about my GPA, I decided that my goal for the second semester was to achieve straight A's. That second semester I used some study skills that I had learned from my Applied Psychology class. Once I started to incorporate some of the skills to my studying, I was able to achieve my goal and felt that I was back on track and got my GPA up to a 3.24. This also got me on the Dean's List for the semester which made my family and me very proud. I just wish that I would have been able to start those skills earlier but unfortunately I had never needed them in high school, so working on study skills in high school would be my advice to my high school self.

I would tell myself not to be nervous. High school students going to a new school often forget that every other person in your college freshman class is also looking for friends, and for that reason they are not hard to find. Get to know the people in your first classes, for they could turn out to be lifelong friends. The petty drama in highschool will end and you will move forward to more exciting and life changing opportunities. Be open to changes and follow your interests, for you may discover that being a doctor does not thrill you as much as becoming an ecologist, saving the world's frogs. Your life will go incredible places if you let it.

WOW! If I could go back in time to my senior year in high school, I'd be forever a changed woman. There were so many opportunities that I could have taken advantage of but I didn't because I just wanted to graduate and just head on to college. I would definitely push myself to take more Advanced Placement classes and to get involved in more extracurricular activities. Although I did get a few awards at my graduation ceremony, I would have loved to had the honor of becoming a member of the National Honor Society. Now that I am in college and seeing that if I pushed myself a little further to do my best in school then I would have easily gotten a full ride scholarship to any college of my chouce.

My advice would be to investigate the universities' college life with its academic reputation. Further, pick a college that fits your personality.