Washington State University Top Questions

Learn the material you are being taught. This is your education, your future, and your knowledge, not just a degree. An A where the material was memorized and quickly forgotten is worthless; thus a B- is better than that A if you understand and attain the lesson. Apply for scholarships now, there are so many out there especially for seniors. Don't take longer than a summer off from school because it is so easy to get caught up in a job and before you know it, five or ten years pass by. The more time that passes before returning to school, the more obstacles you will need to overcome. Right now, don't worry about your boyfriend. Don't give up or change your dreams to fulfill his. Boys will come and go out of your life but you will have to live your life continually. You can start your family after you graduate college; otherwise you will be like I am, 32 years old before you graduate. It was a lot harder being a working single-mother going to college then if you keep focused now and take your own experienced and wiser advice.

I could answer this questions in two ways. First I would talk to myself as a sophomore in college before I was going to transition into a university. I would tell myself to do more research into what schooling my career will take. It would've made the best of my time throughout my college years. The second way I would answer this question is as a sophomore in high school. This is because I went straight into college my junior year. As for the advice for my sophomore year, I was pretty happy with how I handled that year. The only thing that I might change is to join more clubs in order to make more of my shortened high school experience. Overall, I am very happy with my decisions and have not had any regrets.

I would tell myself to spend some time really getting to know the people around me instead of jumping into friendships and relationships in a attempt to fit in and have people around me. There is this period of time freshman year where everyone is pushing to make friends and find their place and their group for the next four years and sometimes the best relationships will slip right by if you're too busy forcing friendships with others just for the sake of having friends. Also, I suppose I would tell myself not to seriously date for awhile. Getting sucked into a serious relationship at the very beginning of college is hard because pretty soon you've become wrapped up in this one person and haven't had much time to experience your independence by going out and meeting new people or having the opportunity to date more than one person which should be fantastic learning processes.

Advice I would give myself would be to not give up on the educational dreams and goals I have set no matter how hard life can get. School and family at times can become stressful but everything will be alright as time goes by. Don't always compare pass accomplishments because the present is now and the pass is no longer here. Transititon can be hard at first but effort will count for all that you put in.

If i could go back and talk to myself as a high school senior the firest thing I would tell myself to calm down. When your at college you meet so many new friends that you don't miss home.

If given the chance to go back and talk to myself as a high school senior knowing what I know now, I would tell myself the following. First and foremost I would tell myself that high school teachers have not been lying to you all this time, that college is indeed a lot of reading and studying, lots more than we ever did in high school classes. I would also tell myself not to worry about being homesick too much, because while it happens, an easy way to fight it is to go outside and introduce yourself to people. This not only gets you more friends, but before you know it you won't even realize it's been months since you've been home! Finally I think I would tell myself that while college work is harder and classes are more complicated depending on the field and the direction of the courses, as long as you take it one step at a time and breath a little, you'll do alright. That is what I would tell myself as a senior in high school if given the chance knowing what I know now.

While college is amazing, in my situation, I wish I would have told myself to go to a community college first, and then transfer there after two years. Financially, it is very difficult for me to make things meet, and it probably would have been easier had I chosen a community college first. That would make my time at the university a little less stressful, and open up opportunities like studying abroad, that I might not be able to afford otherwise. I also would have told myself to go to a school where none of my friends are going, because I relied on my friends, and it made it more difficult to branch out and make new friends.

If I could go back and talk to myself as a highschool senior, I would say "You dont know what is coming at you. I assumed that the work load would be a little bit harder, but not as hard as it is now. Most seniors come down with what is called senioritis. This was very common, and very accepted. This was my first mistake. I became very lazy and did not fill out near enough scholorships, and let my grade point average slip. Keep working hard, no matter how hard it is. After going through a semester at college, I feel like I am more aware of how much work it is and how much effort I have to put in. I think of college like a book, MY book, I am the author of it. And I want my book to be the best book written. Therefore, I must put my best foot forward, always. And always do my best. To do this you must, make friends with your professors, seek help always, and surround yourself with people you want to be like. Your friends have alot to do with how you preform and who you become."

If I could go back to talk to myself when I was a senior in high school I would tell myself not to procrastinate when writing and researching papers. Just because it is possible to write a 5-8 page paper in one night it is not the smart thing to do. I would tell myself to take my time while writing, go back and reread the paper, make corrections, just don't had in a paper right after you finish writing it. Also I would say that there needs to be more of a balance between academics and a social life. It is ok to take time to be with friends, join clubs and actually become involved with them. Having many experiences will only help with life not only during college but beyond it as well.

If I could travel back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to be more outgoing. While in high school, I was extremely awkward and shy. Once I got to college, my sorority helped me to overcome my awkwardness and shyness. To this day, I continue working on completely overcoming my shyness. I would also tell myself to know my limits and boundaries. While in high school, I had a strict curfew and set of household rules to follow. Once at college, those rules and limits no longer existed. I'll be the first to admit I went a little crazy my first semester of college. I'll also admit I made a lot of mistakes, but I see mistakes as learning experiences. If I had set my boundaries better, I would not have made many of the mistakes I did.