West Chester University of Pennsylvania Top Questions

Natalie: I know you're terrified to go off to school and leave the comfort of what you know and love in high school, but be excited! You will grow and learn so much here. You will make great lifelong friends, and you will keep the old few who stuck around through it all! Now, with all the music opportunities there are here, remember that you can't say yes to all of them (even though you will - you'll learn the hard way). Try to relax a little bit more than you think you need to - it's important. Natalie, you're going to work very hard and accomplish a lot, so don't worry about that. Just remember to breathe and have a social life along the way.

Life is an interesting journey with its ups ,downs, left and right turns, but all these obstacles are to help mold you into a knowledgable person. As a 26 year old non-traditional college student, if I was able to go back into time I would definitely give myself one advice. Advice that not only to stop me from making certain mistakes but to continue on certain paths and change the mindset I had in the past. As I graduate High school, I would tell myself to not take a year off of college just because I decided to go to a junior college. Yes, my first year I landed on the Dean's list but not using my time correctly that year off will change everything in my future since I'm still making up for that year now. Telling myself that my immediate family would become homeless for the year just when you decided to finish up your A.A. degree, I'll meet and marry the man of dreams and become a mom at 23 would motivate me to remain and complete my elementary education degree by the time I was 22. Which was my American Dream.

In my junior year of college, my public speaking Professor shared some of his general advice for life upon course completion. One thing in particular stood out to me when he said: "question everything". In high school, it's easy to stay within the walls of the comfort zone you create, but as you transition to furthering your professional and intellectual career, I would advise my high school senior self to heed this advice from the get-go. We think we know our likes and our dislikes to their full extent, but this isn't always the case. Having transferred schools and switched majors later in the school year, my professors advice holds true. As I began to explore other interests and deepen my understanding of areas I was already passionate about, I was beginning to develop my ethics, my values, and my future goals. In the next few years and thereafter, utilize your voice to strengthen it. And as you develop your course load, let your curiousities and wonders direct you at times. I found myself growing as a young professional when my cursiousity provoked my voice and I was able to develop greater understandings.

If I were to go back in time and talk to my highschool self again about college, I would tell myself not to give up on school and take it seriously. There were times that school became tough and I chose to give up by taking a break for a semester or go out with friends not realizing that school was a roadmap for my career path. I'd explain that although school seemed tough at certain times it would all be worth it in the end. I'm pretty sure that if I gave myself a little glimpse of my future then my highschool self wouldn't think twice about staying in school and never taking a break from it. I would also stress the fact that I would need to participate in college life such as events or programs the school has to help me find a job once I graduate. One of the most important things I would tell myself would be that my family and close friends will still be there waiting for me to graduate and get my Bachelor's degree.

Understand that you can make as many plans as your heart desires and as your personality would dictate, but be flexible to the opportunities that you didn't plan on. These opportunities are multitudenous in college and they are the ones that will mean the most to you in the future. Don't allow yourself to become so caught up in planning that you develop tunnel vision. No matter how many times you've heard this, and how little you believe it, college really is a time in your life that you'll never experience again. It is designed for you to develop a sense of identity and this includes learning your hobbies, choosing your friends, and developing your talents. You are an extrememly capable and smart student. Don't get so consumed in your studies that you ignore the joy of the life happening around you. Allow yourself to take risks and have fun. And don't be distracted by the disappointments that will try to prevent you from succeeding. You are a unique individual with a unique talant, who is capable of love and respect; these are the things that will endure in life.

This may come as a surprise to you, but chica… you are naïve. You are exuberant and boisterous and run so fast into the light you sometimes forget to put on your sunblock, and believe me, when you forget your SPF you are likely to get burnt. Unfortunately for us, the burns of life are deep. They kind of creep up on you and tend to catch you off guard. One minute you’re lying in the sun soaking up some vitamin D and next your as red as a lobster and heeled over in pain. But these burns you suffer are also temporary, and I am here to tell you that no matter how deep they are and no matter how much it hurts, the pain is not everlasting. So go out into the world, break free from the boundaries of your small town and never look back. Forget about the boyfriend you think you love, hold on to the few who are true, and set big goals, because at the end of the day even if you end up sunburnt and broken, at least you took a minute to sit back and enjoy the sun.

The most important advice that I could possibly give myself would be to seek medical help for my depression. I would tell my younger self that no matter how hard I tried and no matter how much I studied, it would be all for naught if I was too depressed to get out of bed for days and weeks at a time. There is so much help available for people suffering from depression. I would tell myself that my insurance benefits, which I get via my parents, would run out one day. I would tell myself that once your insurance is gone that receiving help is much harder and takes much more time since free programs are usually extremely crowded and follow up appointments can be months in the future. I have been told by many people that I am the smartest person that they know, but that matters nothing when you can't even hold down a part time job without getting fired because you miss too much work. I would also tell myself to tell my family about my problems many years before I did. They have helped so much since they've been aware of them.

I graduated high school in 2000, and went immediately into college. After a bit more than a year, I dropped out, and didn't return to finish for another 8 years. I would tell myself that college will be different than high school, in that I wouldn't be able to coast through like I was used to. I would advise myself to either approach college work completely differently, or to take a year or two off to allow myself more time to mature. I would tell myself to reevaluate what it is that I want out of life, and to adjust my intended major accordingly (my career goals have changed quite a bit since then). And in the interest of world peace, and with no regard for the timeline I have experienced, I would warn myself about 9/11 and my father's death (unrelated to 9/11). Spending more time with him would make me a happier person, even if it set my education timetable back a few years. I would also make sure to invest in Green Mountain Coffee and Medifast, Inc. (9,200{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} and 16,000{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} incease since 2000, respectively). Can't blame me for trying.

In highschool I did fairly well but I feel like I could have done even better. If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a highschool senior I would address a few different situations. During my senior year I got all A's in every class except physics. In physics I obtained a B. If i were talking to myself in that class I would have told my self to ask the teacher more questions on things that I didn't fully understand. That would have helped me obtain a better grade. Also I would have told myself to go to after school sessions for even more help. If I would have done those things I believe that I could have gotten an A in physics. During my senior year I was probably more focused in school than in any other year of highschool. There are not many things I would have changed during that year but making more of an effort to get a better grade in physics would have been one of them.

I would tell myself to never take the opportunity to go to school for granted. Even during the hard times, the boring times, or the not so fun times, embrace the opportunity and be thankful you are there. I would also tell myself to sign up for ROTC before you realize when you want to join its too late.