Augustana University Top Questions

If I could go back, I would tell myself to stop procrastinating. During my senior year I took my sweet time to settle on the school that I would attend in the fall. When I finally chose Augustana in mid-May, it was too late to get involved in a lot of great things that at the time I didn't think would be important to me, but now I miss a lot. I didn't apply for the Civitas honors program. I also didn't try to get involved in any of the sports here. I didn't think I would miss playing volleyball or being part of the track team, but now I miss team sports more than I miss anything. If I could go back, I'd say "Self, get it together. Find out what it takes to try out for the volleyball or track team. Apply for Civitas. You have nothing to lose!"

If I could go back into time and talk to my high school Senior self I would tell him "You have a long road ahead of you," and "to be successful in college you have to WANT to be there." You need to be motivated and have a drive to succeed. I did not have these qualities when I first started my college career back in Fall of 2007, I was flunking classes and eventually dropped out in 2009, which i know know was not the best of choices. Now I am paying the price financially and academically. I have to pay for my next couple of semesters out of my own pocket. My grades and GPA have much improved, but it is hard to get scholarships because my transcripts alone are red flags to most scholarship committees. So if I could go back I would tell myself, “You deserve more in life than what you think you do. Do not settle for what is given to you, you have to strive for more. It’s going to take hard work and determination to get where you want to be, it will all be worth it in the end."

The most important advice I would give myself is, to be prepared for change. I would tell myself to take things as they come and don't plan too far ahead. I would tell myself that freshman year was the worst year of my life, but completely worth it. I would tell myself that the first year wasn't about learning the material from class, but about learning how to get by in college and how to adapt to changes. College is a learning experience, but it is not the class material that is the most important thing to take away from it...it is the friends, the ability to succeed in anything the professors throw your way, the ability to prioritize, the abiliy to adapt, the ability to overcome obstacles, and the ability to grow as an individual (spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally).

I would give myself the advices - to try hard to get high GPA - to prepare myself to be a fast reader - to know many English vocabularies for writing - to prepare my resume for part time job during college life & - to manage time

i would tell myself to work harder and get more scholarship money for school also to be ready for some hard days ahead of me.

My college transition was quite the shell shock. I left California in January 2004 to a very chilly winter in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at Augustana College. What a change! If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself that the transition may be difficult at first, but would turn around and become a very positive experience. Based on that positive experience, I would advise myself to spend less time on the computer with my headphones on. Instead spend more time talking with my parents about their experiences at college as they went to Augustana as well. Knowing more about my surroundings and my community has always helped me appreciate the moment. So my advice to myself would be to make an effort and meet new people, learn more about the area, and learn more about myself. Being new is never easy, but it is how you handle yourself that makes an impression on others. Don't hesitate to be yourself. Don't be afraid to ask questions. College is an exciting opportunity to grow as an individual. That'd be my advice to myself.

Knowing what I know now about college I would tell my high school self to enjoy the high school years. To have fun with friends and learn how to make relationships work, along with doing well in school. In high school I was focused on school work and had very few social skills. I was shy and awkward and had no friends in school. I didn’t know what college would be like or what it took to get into school. I didn’t very much outside of school and experienced little. When I graduated high school my life changed dramatically. I had a terrible family incident and tried to adjust to that while attending my 2nd year of community college, (I attending running start the previous year). I ended up dropping out of school and for the first time I began to socialize with people. I spent the next 5 years finding out what friendship was and dated for the first time. I feel like if I had learned those skills and spent some of my high school years having fun then I would have been more ready for what the world is like outside of home.

The most important advice that I would give myself is to be able to manage my social time with my school work time. I would have to say that I had really good study habits while I was in school, but another important advice I would of given myself would of been to read more. There is so much reading in college that I feel is overwhelming sometimes and if I would of taken the time to read more in high school I probably would not mind reading as much in college. Another tip I would have given myself would to be more open-minded with activities and school related events. Being so closed-minded all the time, allowed me to miss some of the fun experiences of college. From all of the advice that I would of given myself, the most important advice are managing time, reading skills, and most of all being open-minded.

I would tell myself to work on my study habits and lessen my dependency on distractions like Facebook and Xbox. In high school, I hardly ever studied and the adjustment to college classes was very tough. I would tell myself that college is not only as tough as I thought it was, but tougher. I thought I would easily adjust to the work load that I would receive, but I underestimated the challenges that laid before me. Also, I would tell myself to stop using Facebook as much. As I progressed through my freshman year of college, I slowly learned that lessening my use of Facebook greatly improved my productivity and I could get a lot more homework done! Another thing that I would tell myself would be to stop playing video games so much, and cut down to just the weekends. My grades in college improved by leaps and bounds as soon as I cut my video game time to just the weekends. I would also tell myself to not worry about the roommate situation, because I got a good roommate and all my friends are awesome!

Rose, pay attention! It is very important to get the most out of your education now! Never mind boys or fear of your future. No one can create your life but You. College will be better than High School, you can determine your own areas of study and the hours you attend classes. You will love college, it's very exciting and great for your self confidence and self-esteem. Go for it!