University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

My college experience has helped me to learn how to better interact socially, and how to set smaller goals in order to achieve a larger goal.

The most important thing I have gotten out of my college experience is the ability to attend the Curry School of Eduction. I was able to enroll in a five-year master's program in one of the top teacher education programs in the country. I will graduate in five years, saving me the cost of one year of graduate school, with a teaching license, a masters of teaching, a double-major BA degree in History and Russian, and an endorsement to my teaching license in teaching English as a second language. Although I do not always agree with the University of Virginia's student culture and life, I cannot deny that my education has been rich and filled with opportunity. I am glad that i have been able to receive such a good education at a public university with lowered tuition for Virginia residents.

The most important things I learned in college have nothing to do with what I learned in a classroom. Yes, the books gave me knowledge and information but outside the classroom I learned so much more. I learned the most important things that will guide me through my life. I learned how important family and friends are for an individual. My family for the support because I realize that not everyone has it and my friends for the memories they have given me during our 4 years of college. I learned how to give of my time to such events as Habitat for Humanity and Pancakes for Parkinson. I learned to balance my life with work and play. I work hard on my studies and I play hard on intramural wallyball and soccer teams. College is a great place to get you ready for the work world but the greatest education is to be ready for life.

The college experience can be defined in many different ways to people. It can be finding the one special man or woman that changes life forever. It can be going out every night and forgetting it all in the morning. It can be making a giant impact in society through the research and hard work put forth in school. To me, the college experience is how the new friends I met have changed my life in the time I have known them. At UVA, there are many people who share common interests and problems with me. This has allowed me to grow with my comrades in all aspects of life: physically, mentally, and spiritually. The people I am surrounded by push me to go to the gym to stay healthy and fit. I have formed study groups with people who I communicate well with which allows me to become smarter and excel in the classroom. Spiritually I have been blessed by being able to open up to my friends and talk about anything in my life with them. The college experience has shaped me into a man I am proud to be at the end of the day.

My college experience has been full of opportunities, change, disappointment, and learning. At first I did not get into my dream school, UVA, so I attended my second choice. There, I was involved in many activities; I was the face of the university by being an Ambassador, giving tours to prospective students. I was involved in Student Government and organized school-wide activities to improve the campus. I also was the founder of the first all-girl acapella group on campus. I learned how to connect with all types of people, how to work well with faculty, and, most importantly, how to be a leader. I ended up finally transferring to UVA for more of an academic challenge, and, though I haven't made the cut for all my desired activities the first time around like at my old school, I am still trying. My experience thus far as a whole has been immeasurably valuable; I have learned how to deal with the disappointment of rejection, how to persist and finally reach my dream (UVA), how to be a leader, how to listen to others and initiate change, and I will continue to promote these values as I grow.

After a number of years as a small business owner I realized that I was not following my lifelong dream. I had always wanted to be a teacher, namely a high school history teacher. I knew that if I was ever going to do this I would have to act on it soon, or I had better realize that it was just a dream. So in 2008 I returned to school, much to the amusement of my friends and family. But in the last three years I come to understand that not only do I have a talent for school I also enjoy it. So now that I am in my third year I have transferred to a four year college. I plan to finish my bachelor’s degree within 2 years and complete for the teaching credential after that. It is my personal goal to be finished with school by my 45th birthday.

I have gotten a lot of knowledge out of college so far. This includes the knowledge from classes and also completely random knowledge (for instance, I now know how to find the entrance to the UVA Hospital's emergency room and I know that peanut butter and cell phone holders don't mix). This random knowledge includes life experience, which I have gained in spades by living away from my parents on my own for quite some time now. Overall, I feel that UVA has been valuable to attend because it has certainly given me great elements of the traditional college experience as well as a fantastic group of friends that I will treasure for years and years to come.

Being a college student at Indian River State College has been great. It is close to home and I am able to work full time to pay for my education. This allows extra time to study and focus on furthering my career. My next step is to attend the University of Central Florida. Being a good college student means putting school before anything else. Everyday life can get crazy at times but being able to set that aside and fighting yourself to get a better grade in a class than your peers is what I think helps make a student want to stay in school. This is my perspective on college; I treat it as my second job. Anyone can have school spirit for their college, but when you love to go to school because you want to earn yourself a career that is having spirit within and it will show with anyone that you meet and most importantly your schoolwork.

The most valuable experience in college is when I became part of my Latino fraternity. Even though there were a lot of organizations on campus I knew that there was something out there for me that was a better fit. I along with my line brother went through a leadership development process to bring back our fraternity on campus. Thanks to my fraternity we are able to put events to cater to uplift the Latino community and help other Latinos get into a 4 year University. For us, education is the most precious give one can give back to our community. Furthermore, Thanks to my fraternity, I have met the friends and brothers I always wanted. I want them to be part of my life forever. On top of the extracurriculars, it's been valuable to attend because I have gotten a quality education from UVa. The professors in the computer science department are exceptional and are alway willing to work with you. My software developement proffesor inspired me to pursue a degree in computer science. Thanks to him I have become a better programmer and I know what type of career I want after I graduate from college.

College was the chapter were I found my footing and my voice. It afforded me time to grow, learn of my talents, interests, and limitations, and since hit my stride. Without those years, I might never have realized how much I have to offer.