Azusa Pacific University Top Questions

Going back to being a senoir in 1986/87, now in 20/20 hindsight, this is my advice to myself; "Melody, be more diligent in pursuing your career choices and pin-point your classes towards that career goal. It is imperative to get plugged into councelors and educators to help guild you towards a career goal. You and your parents need to get informed regarding finacial aid, grants, and scholarships before deciding on colleges. This information can help guild you towards making the right choice for the most affordable education. Paying for college is a complcated and lenthy process that you may not expect. Learning to write scholarship essays is a challenge but very important to apply for scholarships. If a class is available in your area, be certain to take advantage of it. It will be worth your time. Study for the ACT amd SAT tests. Those are very important to be accepted into college and can help you earn more grants and scholarships too. Reach out beyond your school events and clubs. Spend time helping your community. Choose a career goal, stick with it, work towards it, never give up.... plug and chug until you make it there!

I am a person who does not like change. Routines are very comfortable to me. I would advise myself to not worry about this new change in school and setting. College is an awesome opportunity that I should not fear. I would tell myself to be ready for all of the fun I would have and maybe give some of my homework answers to my past self. Of course, I would not cheat so I guess not. The biggest piece of advicei would give myself is to be open to making new friends and trying new things. You never know what great thing you might discover in that obscure adventure.

Speaking to you, my past self: Don't worry. You'll definitely get into a University and boy, it's a great one. Although, a few things you could do now are just really focus on your studies because really that's the most important thing right now. Who cares about those boys, that time will come but right now focus on your future studies. Get the grades we need to make it, not to barely pass. Enjoy your life, your familly, your firends. Have fun, really live and enjoy every moment of this life. Getting into a community college is great, but don't linger there for too long. Really push yourself to do your best, you'll get to University! It'll be a bit difficult to transition in the beginning because you'll be dorming on campus and since you're so close to our family...but God has it all planned out for you already. He has opened doors no one can close. Be thankful and hopeful because God loves you and has a great plan for your future!

“Come on man, get your act together. You know you are fully capable, but this whole ‘I don’t care about grades’ and ‘what good are grades in the real world?’ act is bull. Let me tell you something. You’re right. In the real world they don’t matter. All that matters is the degree, and you know what the degree depends on? Grades! Just an ounce more effort and they could be stellar. Just a little more care and you could be on top, man. Why not? There is nothing good about the high school night life. Pretty soon you’ll realize how petty all of this is. Pretty soon you’ll set your goals straight, and if you don’t have those grades up higher then you’ll just be burning bridges. You’ll have to settle for second rate schools, not the school of your dreams. You’ll have to compromise. You’re sacrificing right now so much that you just don’t realize. Do you really want to look back and think ‘what if?’ You don’t. You know how I know? Because that’s what I’m thinking right now.

I would advise myself to be more intentional about getting to know a few people on a deep level, so that you have close friends to talk through stuff with. Also, I would tell myself to make sure to build relationships with my professors becuase they have alot of wisdom to offer.

The one thing that I wish I could tell myself five years ago, I even remind myself of now at age twenty. I remind myself to take a breath, everything will be okay. At fifteen, or even eighteen as I was when I graduated high school it seemed as if every day was the end of the world. I wish that I had known then that in just a few short years the friends I prided myself on having wouldn’t be there for me. That it was the truly deep things that mattered, and that I really did have the rest of my life ahead of me. I wish now that I had known back then not to beat myself up over what I couldn’t change, the mistakes I had already made. What was, is, and always will be important is to keep your head up and run full speed over what I could change, accomplish, and achieve. It’s not how you start, but how you finish that matters. If I have learned anything since high school, it’s that you finish strong, and you never stop fighting.

Be ready to step outside of your comfort zone but also be ready to face who you are. Don't forget your roots but venture the unexplored. It is okay to be insecure and scared; everybody else is. You are going to be challenged and you are going to question a lot. I promise that you will meet others that have unique backgrounds and who think differently than you; these will become your greatest friends. Make friends. College isn't about hiding in the library whenever you are not in class. Six hours of sleep a night really is enough when it means you made good use of a day. The internet is distracting; avoid it if you want to feel good about yourself at the end of the day. You will fail and succeed and fail then succeed again. Don't give up. Ask your professors for help. Volunteer and make a stand for others. Lose yourself and your selfish ways. Get a job on campus. Be open, be free, and watch out for the freshman fifteen. It is real and defintely happened. There is no other time like this, so be grateful. Lastly, carpe diem. Seize the day.

If I could talk to myself as a high school senior, I would tell myself to choose my college very wisely. Before making my final decision, I would way out all the pros and cons of each school. I would see what extra curricular activities I could become involved in, and how the school would benefit me. I chose my school based on what was best for my major and the least expensive. However, I do not fit in the school environment. As a result, I find myself very unsocial, unhappy, and unmotivated. My only motivation is to get really good grades in order to transfer. Yes, finances and your major is a big component of choosing the best college, but ultimately if you do not fit in the school environment, you wil be unhappy. I never realized it, but your happiness is the most important thing. It will lead you to being motivated, positive, and successful in college. I really wish I realized this as a high school senior, because now trying to transfer is very difficult, and until then I just have to take it day by day, and make the most out of my situation.

If I could travel back to my senior self I would definitely tell myself that picking a college is not as simple and as easy as I had thought. I would tell myself to not choose APU for I would immediately run into financial problems, for I would be paying for school on my own. Instead, I would urge myself into attending a more affordable college, one that i could commute to. Although I would'nt have a car I would be able to take the bus. I would also tell myself to keep in contact with friends from back home, for you always need a little friendliness going on outside of intense study sessions and work and worrying about finances. I would tell myself that it will definitely be hard but to push through and keep my head high.

If I could go back in time to prepare my high school self for college, there are several things I would tell her. I would let her know that bad grades don’t make you a failure. A “C” here or there should instead be taken as a learning experience, not an invitation to give up. I would tell her that she will meet so many new people. She needs to find people who lift her up, allow her to feel comfortable, and inspire her and invest in those relationships like crazy. Good friends are hard to come by, but she will not regret choosing a small group to know on a deeper level. I would let her know not to take herself too seriously, and that it is okay to change your mind regarding picking a major. Finally, I would tell her that she will undergo a huge transformation. Different events will shape her into the woman she was destined to be. Sometimes getting rocked to the core allows us to find our inner strength, and often times that is what we need to see that we capable of so much more than we imagined.