University of Wisconsin-Platteville Top Questions

Lucas, Be yourself. Make friends. Get involved. That stuff you already know. Here's what you don't know: College is hard. You WILL need to study. Talk to your friends and teachers. LEARN how to STUDY. Just because it came easy to you in high school, doesn't mean that it will again in college. Homework comes first. School comes first. Get to know your professors. They will help you a ton. Office hours are great! NEVER take a math class with McDonald! BIG MISTAKE. Now, if you happen to come across a girl that you recognize from a summer camp, do what she says. Join Swing Dance Club. I know you don't like dancing, but she's worth it. Don't worry, you'll learn quick and become quite good at it. You'll even sweep her off of her feet after a while. Take her to a show or two. Ask her out. It really couldn't hurt to try. And finally, have fun. Future Lucas over and out.

If I could go back, I would tell myself that it gets better. For the most part, people don't judge you as much, and believe it or not, it is possible to make new friends. There's also no reason to be scared about anything. Moving out of your mom's house is a big change, but it isn't as bad as you think. You really learn how to be independent and realize how great it is. Also, don't think you're going to find the love of your life your first year here. It happens to some people, but not everyone. I like being single now; it has helped me realize who I am and I'm slowly learning to love myself. Just focus on yourself; it's okay to do. People might think you're crazy, but who cares what they think. Just be yourself and be confindent about it.

Visit a lot of schools. Also make sure you know exactly what you want in a school, whether big, small, whatever. If you do not know what you want to study go to the closest junior college first. It might not be the best but you will save money so you can enjoy the four year school. Start saving now, college is expensive and you are going to want to do a lot. When you go to school, don't be afraid of trying to clubs and organizations. Take your on campus job seriously, you will leave a lot. Make connections with different professional staff on campus. It will come in handy when you are looking for internships and jobs when you graduate.

I would tell myself to not worry so much about where you see yourself being in a couple years after graduating college. College is about finding out your interests and then planning the steps you take in order to get your degree. Being a learning disability student, I would aso tell myself to make sure I get help from the professors I'm going to encounter because sometimes they can be a greater use to your studying than trying to figure it out yourself.

If I could go back and discuss college life with my high school senior self I would be sure to tell her not to be afraid. That friendships come and go, build up and wither away, family life changes, and your education gets more difficult, but that it all makes you stronger. That first awkward moment with you roommate is not so bad, leaving your parents is only hard if you make it to be, and if someone does not like you, you are doing something right, not wrong. You embarassed yourself? Laugh. Stressed? Work through it. You are stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. Take every opportunity you can because in a few years that speaker will not be free, that concert will not be available to you, that training program that could have helped you to develop your professional skills will have slipped through your fingers. Travel, get to know people who are different from you, learn to listen but also learn to speak wisely with a strong, enforced opinion. You will never again have the same opportunities, so take them. Love them. Embrace them. It all will change you, and definitely for the better.

I would tell myself to not spend a dime on non-essentials such as junk food and video games while in High School because I had enough video games to last me a life time and I could survive on the food my Mom bought. I would then tell myself to apply for more scholarships and explain how to use the meal plan and meal points in the most cost effective way possible as to not run out of meals half way through the semester like I did. I would also tell myself to study more in Psychology because I got a "C" and I could have done better. Furthermore I would tell myself to remember to stay focused on school, don't let the little things bring you down, and try to maintain some type of sleep schedule.

I would tell myself to become involved in anything that interests me, form study groups whenever possible, and try to avoid common distractions like computer games and movies and the like. This way, I could be more productive and enjoy my experience a lot more because by becoming involved on campus, the desire to play computer games and watch movies shrinks until it is no longer noticeable because there are so many other better ways to spend my time. I would also warn myself about the possibility of trying to take on too much at a time because it is not worth it to burn out. I would tell myself to prepare for things as far ahead of time as possible because other things always come up and try to distract from what should be done. One of these would be researching companies well before the career fair. I would also tell myself to be open to spending money on little things because there will be plenty of time in the near future to make it all back. Lastly, I would tell myself to work really hard on remembering other peoples' names after getting to know them.

If I could go back to being a high school senior and was to give advice to myself then about college life and transitioning, the advice I would be to take it more serious. What I mean by this is to look at all the colleges I had in mind thoroughly and also my major. The major chosen was engineering; not sure what kind of engineering but now I seem to be doubting if this is the right path for me. I mean engineering was on my top list, just not sure what number on the top list. I have taken engineering classes before in high school and I enjoyed it. Another advice I would have given myself would be that transistioning can be hard and that it will get better. I am saying this because when I left, i cied for two weeks. I missed home that much. Along with that, I wuld also say that to bring things you only need. I actually brought my whole bedroom with me and my room at campus now is packed and I don't even put them into use. One last advice: college is only fun if you make it fun.

Wow do I think about this every single day. I would do so many things different, starting with applying myself and have a decorated academic record, no blow off classes. I wouldn't have worried so much about "the now" and instead done everything humanly possible to better prepare for the future. I wish I took in the fact that college is the time in my life where I can become anything I want and build a career from it, before I actually came to college. A small tip I would tell myself would be that I better getting used to ramen as an everyday dinner, and be prepared to lose a LOT of sleep. I now realize college itself IS a full time job. Managing your time is as important as breathing to stay alive. I would tell my self to PRIORITIZE and equally important, be flexible. College isn't like high school at all, it's time to grow up. It's my life, what I do with it is up to me.

Now that I have experienced being away from home, from the commodity of having my own bedroom; the best advice I would give myself would be to prepare psychologically because it takes a lot of self courage to leave 1,000 miles from home. I would tell myself to save lots of money in order to have some money for any extra expenses during college. Most importantly, I would tell myself to not be afraid and go with all the confidence in the world!