University of Washington-Seattle Campus Top Questions

It was almost four years ago that I left a small private high school to come to the 40,000 student-populated campus of the University of Washington. Before school started, I had already gone through recruitment and made friends with the 100 young women in my sorority chapter; I knew I had a secure network. Going to college is often the ultimate step of independence in a young person?s life, but it wasn?t until these last few months that I realized how much it has shown me the importance of friendship and interdependence. It?s with friends and people I care about that I have learned how to deal with people of all sorts of different personalities, encountered arguments where I?ve been forced to take a view on a matter, and worked as a team to accomplish a common goal. It?s probably impossible to sum up what I have gleaned from being in college, but if anything I have begun to learn how to be the person I want to be.

My parents encouraged college but it certainly wasn?t expected. For me though, college was never in question. It was my ultimate escape?both an opportunity to be in a more positive environment and the beginning of a career that would provide for my family. Being entirely responsible for paying for my own education made me more determined to get everything I could out of the experience. My college degree opened the door to a world of opportunities I honestly had only dreamt of. If as I was graduating from high school 14 years ago someone had told me I was going to work in advertising with some of the world?s most elite brands, be a Director with an advertising agency at 27, be a VP of a sports media startup at 29, live in San Francisco and get to travel the world, I simply wouldn?t have believed it. And that?s what education is to me ? it?s opportunity. It?s the opportunity to not have to live paycheck to paycheck, to have a career and not a job and to live out your passions and lead an impactful and purpose filled life.

In my experience at the University of Washington, I have developed myself and grown as an individual, as a student and as a citizen of the world. While here, I have been presented with hundreds of opportunities to discover my interests and develop passions that are shared and celebrated by others. Every curiosity has the potential to be explored and further understood, and I have ingenious minds encouraging me and guiding me in my process. Learning is a privilege but also a challenge I gladly accept, whether that?s in the classroom, through an on-campus organization, or from the diverse people I am surrounded by. As a student I have learned to be more open-minded, more culturally aware of the world I live in. The UW is filled with global-minded individuals who enjoy learning and value education on many levels, from reading texts to going into the world and gaining experience firsthand. My experience here and the knowledge I gain is both appreciated and celebrated by the amazing community I am a part of. If anything, I have been inspired to be my best and live to my fullest potential by working hard to achieve my dreams.

From my college experience I've learned how incredibly diverse people's ideas, beliefs, and perspectives on life can be. College is where you learn what makes you who you are. It's where you have the opportunity to learn about other people in ways you wouldn't ordinarily have the chance to experience.

My college experience thus far has been incredible. In addition to learning much about an assortment of subjects that interest me--such as astronomy, archaeology, and medieval literature--I have been provided the opportunity to learn more about myself. I have had to re-learn my time management skills, as I no longer have my parents nearby to help motivate me and to tell me when I might be taking on too much. I have many unprecedented opportunities to pursue my interests outside of the classroom via clubs, organizations, and intramural sports. I have also made a number of new friends, many of whom have shown me new perspectives on life and helped me to evaluate my own. I still am not entirely locked in to my major, and so the opportunity to take such a variety of classes has thus far helped me to whittle down my choices to those that are of particular interest to me. Overall, I feel a greater sense of independence and of my own personal identity for having lived in a college setting for two quarters. I only hope that these will become greater as I continue my pursuit of higher education.

Going to college has been an integral part of my becoming my own man on many levels. Through the academic rigor of working towards degrees in applied mathematics and engineering, I've learned the value of good study habits and overall work ethic which will be essential to success in the world. Leaving suburbia has opened my eyes to a wealth of culture and experiences and has given me a much broader view of the world and the people in it. In addition, being on my own has really grown my faith in God because of the ways He has provided for me, taught me, and grown me out of the faith I "inherited" from from family, and into a faith of my own. Without going to college and being challenged and refined on all levels of life, I wouldn't have the work ethic, knowledge, compassion for people, understanding of the world, and faith which is so important to me, that I have now. It's been a trying but invaluable experience.

The most important advice I think I would give myself would be to stay as involved as I was in high school. I can say I was pretty much involved in everything possible in high school from coursework to being in the Chess Club to being Volleyball Captain to being FBLA President to doing volunteer work to working part time to having a great social life. The list goes on but I listed a couple to show the variety. Since I came to college I got the feeling that the hard part was over, at least as far as extracurricular activities go. This was probably the one regret I have about my experience here so far. I'm in the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta, so that keeps me somewhat involved as far as community service and social life, but I have not gotten too involved in anything else other than Greek Life and club volleyball and once you stop it is really hard to get back into, especially since people know you haven't been involved! The leadership skills and recognition would be invaluable and I wish I would have stuck to my ways from high school!

Go visit the colleges you are accepted to. Think about not only the campus but the logistics, especially if it is far away. Think about not only the school and city you would be moving to, but also the culture of the campus. It does not really matter what school you go to, especially for undergrad. How much you will enjoy your experience will be based on your friendships. You should visualize yourself at that school are there clubs you would like to join? sports teams you would play on? is there a department you are interested in? The most telling sign is to go the the campus and visit, preferably stay a night or two with a friend. Lastly, take a deep breath, college is challengeing but incredibly fun no matter where you end up.

Going from high school to college is hard but manageable. One of the few things you should keep in mind is time management. You have to be able to manage your time between your friends, family, your boyfriend, and school work. It?s hard at first because everyone wants your attention, but keep in mind that everyone wants what?s best for you; to study hard and finish your education. So not spending time with them does not mean they?re going to hate you. Another thing to keep in mind is to develop your studying habits, develop new strategy on how to study efficiently or new skills to study for a big final. In college there is a lot of reading and information, so knowing what?s more important than trying to memorize every little bit and pieces of information would be a better fit. But also have fun, join clubs, socialize and networks with people. Also the freshman 15 exist, so try to stay fit and not eat so much while studying because sooner or later you might just gain 15 lbs at the end of a quarter.

The main piece of advice I have is to make an effort to reach out to meet people in every class because everyone else feels lost at first on such a big campus, and most people are eager to make friends if you talk to them. I have met some really interesting and amazingly smart people and gotten a job lead, by just starting up a conversation during a break in class. I lived in a dorm for my first quarter at UW, and I felt like it was not a good deal financially, and also was not as good of a way to meet people as it was advertised to be. My advice in this regard would be to save your money for tuition and live off campus. As a commuting student, I still feel like part of the community. Lastly, since they UW does not give out much financial aid to middle class students and tuition is constantly increasing, I would recommend applying for lots of outside scholarships in the senior year of high school, before you get to college and are too busy with school work to write a lot of scholarship essays.