University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Top Questions

You're a freshman in high school, and are thinking about entering the LEAP Program, where you take college classes for dual credit and can even earn your degree. Go ahead and do, because I did it. Just know that it will test the limits of your dedication, time management, and what you think you know. Most of it will be easy, but PreCal and Algebra will give you some trouble. Keep your faith, and listen to your teachers, your mom, and Mr. Taylor. Start applying to schools early, and apply for as many scholarships as humanly possible. Don't get lazy. I realize I'm talking to my self, but I'm now older and wiser, so it would probably be a good idea to listen to what I have to say. My best advice: be yourself.

You wont be happier if you go to school far away just to go to school far away. Stay close to home and focus on learning rather than social life.

If I could go back to my high school senior self, I would tell myself to calm down because it only gets more stressful. I would tell myself to not compare my social life with others on Facebook. I would tell myself to get off Facebook altogether. I would also tell my highschool self to add more money to the coffee budget, because that will come in handy. I would tell my highschool senior self to cry less about money, because like the stress, the money situation will also only get worse. I would also tell my highschool self that many other students are paying for school themselves and that I am not alone. I would also tell myelf to buy resonable shoes, and then explain very, very thoroughly what reasonable means. I would tell myself to not worry about my roommate, Sarah is very different then me and a bit older, but we wil remain friends even after we stop being roommates. I would also tell myself to not worry about not having a major. It will come. I promise.

College is a great opportunity in one's life. At college one meets new and different kinds of people, becomes involved in organizations of interest , and learns about a subject that one is passionate about. Experiences such as student led organizations and clubs, along with culturally expanding study abroad trips, can make college years some of the most fulfilling moments of one's life. However, the catch is that one is uprooted from home and from many childhood friends. To many, including my high school self, it seemed scary to build new friendships in an unfamiliar place where everyone is a stranger. However, without those potential friends, one will become lonely and isolated. If I could give one piece of advice to my high school self, it would be to make as many friends as possible, even though it may seem scary at first.

The most important thing I learned my first year of college, was that more often than not, you will get farther in life by being confident and enjoying what you do. Grades, credits and a resume are all important in helping you achieve your career goals, but ultimately, if you focus too much on the academic side of college, and don't take time to enjoy yourself and experience new things, than you may find that at the end of the road, you're not the kind of person you wanted to grow into. The advice that I would give my High School self, is to loosen up a bit. Don't stress out so much about that one question you missed on the exam, or that one percentage point in your class ranking. There's a huge world waiting once you graduate high school, and you can learn so much, by going out and experiencing it firsthand, that you can't learn with your head in a book. It's the balanced combination of what you will learn in the classroom and what you will learn through your personal experiences that makes a well educated person.

So far I have learned many things. Most importantly that lasting growth and change in life seem to only occur in times of extreme light or extreme darkness. My time in high school getting ready to age out of foster care and enter the world alone was by far my darkest time. I would not go back to my young self and give the secrets that would keep me from making even one mistake- and there were many. It was the literal act of picking my spirit up from those hard lessons that developed my character and my compassion for others. However, I would go back and wrap myself in a strong warmth and a gentle voice that every morning would say, “ You are much more than a disposable child; you are loved; you will achieve.” Just maybe that warmth and gentle reassurance from an genuine place would have pushed me to spend less time living in fear and more time allowing myself to explore and make mistakes. As it turns out the world is much larger than I would have ever thought, and far less intimidating after you move out of your own way.

If I could go back and do something different it would be to apply for more grants and aid so I could pay to go to another school, perferably an HBCU school instead of being up North where the color lines are so intense the black students rather not apply for school, where the black students who do and get in become social outcast because we so call think were better than everyoe else. The diversity at UWM is good in the sense that you get to meet new people and enjoy new customs but at the price of being socially casted out. I wish to go to a school where I'm accepted and will openly accept other because thier different.

I would tell myself to not be so serious or worried about going to college. Everyone is in the same boat as you and making friends not hard to do! I would try to prepare myself for the load of course work. Nothing in high school compares to what I have done in college and it is very important that I take that seriously and that way I would be much better prepared for what I was going to expect than I was.

Judy, the most important advice I can give about college is, "Do not delay starting. " Many high school graduates believe that they should postpone college and go right into the work field. The majority of these young workers use their earnings to purchase items that are not of real value or true benefit in the perspective of an entire life span. For a momentary illusion of success, they neglect their higher education. And unlike a car, an education can never be subject to repossession. So even though you may have to work full-time, you should take at least one or two college classes per semester. Over time, these classes will eventually lead to a degree.

Dear shanelle, I wish you would have tried harder. I wish you wish you would have focused more on school and went to a four college and have graduated with your class, which would be this year, as you wanted. even though you didnt do good in the begining of your community college years, dont let that bring you down. Your smart, just apply your self more and you will see all the wonders that you can acheive and always stay POSITIVE!! Sincerley, Your older, wiser self!!1