Brigham Young University-Hawaii Top Questions

Rachel, I know you are nervous about going to college but it is honestly not as scary as you think. Don't stress out about making friends here becasue there is always someone who you can talk to and is willing to be your friend. Also, all the drama going on in high school and all the snooty people will not matter after high school. You are entering an entirely new environment full of people who know nothing about you. Yes, you are going to miss your friends and family, but honestly the time flies by and in no time you will be back home. Rachel, the classes you take in college will also be more interesting because these are the classes that will help you do what you want to do. Yes they will require a ton of time, but it will be worth it. Lastly, do not go into a biology major, you're just going to waste your time becasue you will eventually change it and want to be a teacher. Be excited! Don't be sad you are leaving, be happy you have such a great opportunity! Do not take any day for granted.

I would tell my high school senior self to APPLY FOR MORE SCHOLARSHIPS. There are a lot of opportunities out there to receive help with your college education and the loan road is a rough road. I would also tell myself to stop worrying so much about what you want to be. Life will unfold itself whether you like it or not and you will discover what you want to be through your experiences. Just trust yourself, hold on, and remember who you are and what you stand for. Life is all about learning and enjoying the life you've been given!

Do not be so dependent on other people. I wish I had learned how to make decisions on my own before college. My parents are no longer here to help me with everything, or to buy things for me. I wish I had made and followed a budget with my money while in high school. Money had probably quickly become my biggest stress and I think I might have been able to lessen it some what if I had learned to be better with money before. I would also tell myself to mentally prepare for the amount of responsibility that comes with moving out, that is something I think I didn't fully realize as a senior in high school. College is so fun! But it comes with a lot of growing up and reality checks as well. The last thing I would say is to savor every last moment you have with your family, your high school friends, and every silly little thing you can only do in high school. You miss those things more than you think when you're gone.

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to enjoy what I have. Things really change once you move away from home. I would make sure that I knew to appreciate what I had around me and available to me. Being so close to loved ones is such a blessing. When ever you need something, friends and family are right there to help you. Living on your own both physically and finacially so far away from home can be continually stressful. College is tough and costs more money than I prepared for. If I could, I would also tell myself to work harder. If I had just taken that extra AP class or worked those extra hours at work, the time spent back then would have saved me money and stress now. I just wish that I had been more prepared after graduation for the amount of responsibility you are expected to handle in college.

If I were to tell my high school self-advice about college is that it will be an amazing time where you will learn about all different cultures and ways of life. Another thing I would tell myself is to change my French classes to Spanish. Being in Hawaii at one of the top schools for international students you get to meet people from all over the world. There are over 72 countries where students at Byu-Hawaii come from. I have learned to embrace your background and not be afraid to learn about other backgrounds as well. It is amazing how much you are alike and even though there is thousands of miles between the countries you are from we all have something that unites us together. Secondly, I would say change your French classes to Spanish. When I came to college I married someone with Mexican heritage. This opened my eyes to a whole world of experiences. It changed the way I looked at my Elementary Education major and helped and guided me into a minor in Spanish. Today I am working towards learning a new language and embracing this newly found culture and I am loving it.

Continue to be focused on finishing your degree. It is too easy to stop working for your degree or change you cores of study over and over again. It is easier to pick something then stick with it to the end, later you can go back and get another degree. Friends will come and go, but these friends can be some of the best you will ever know. Make a pattern of studing and all other things you must do each week and keep to the schedule as best as you can, only deviate when you have a real emergencies or life changing event. Get to know your professors well. Talk to them after class., offer to buy them lunch. Ask them everything you can. You can learn alot in the classroom but you can learn even more outside of the classroom if you stay on purpose.

If I could go back to when I was a high school senior and give myself one piece of advice it would be the simple quote, "Remember who you are." Of course there is the common things to say like study hard or take more AP classes however that only is half of the college experience. "Remember who you are", to me, means to persevere throughout all obstacles and to not let the trials of life change the true person inside. College is a time where you can be whoever you want to be, a social game that can cause you to alter your personality in order to fit in. It plays with your emotions and makes you question if you are good enough. My response to this epidemic is to just be you and everything will fall into place. You will make the college experience everything it was made to be because you can be happy with who you are. In reaction to this, you will feel more motivated and be more focused on your classes. We have a choice, to sway and mold yourself to the social "norms" or to stand tall and remember what makes you, you.

Many people jump into college expecting it to be a walk in the park towards your career path. The truth is, it opens up many doors and possibilities in life, but you yourself have to take action in seeking and achieving those great opportunities. Work hard now so that life could be easy later. You have to be willing to work from the ground up. It takes a lot of humility, diligence, consistancy and most important accountability to be successful in achieving your desires. Churchill said, "Success is when goes from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm". Don't let failure set you back when you do meet such trials. Allow yourself to benefit from such experiences in order to better your future. Planning and Time management will be vital towards your success in your career path. The better organized you are, the better prepared you will be for what lies ahead. It is important to enjoy your experience in college but remember to keep your priorities straight and values high. Always be happy and never content. However much you put into building your future, that you will receive, for you reap what you sow.

The advice I would give my self would be to take my studies more serious. To pay better attention in class and apply my self. I would study more in the evenings. I would have read more books!

If I could go back in time and talk to my high school self and tell her what I know now about college, I would tell her that its going to be hard but you can get through it. Spend alittle extra time on your studies and less at the beach. Teachers will understand that you have a learning disability so don't be affraid to let them know. Yes its going to be hard to juggle basketball and school but you can do it. There is a lot of help out there so don't be affaid to ask. Living on an island is hard. Espically when it takes hours just to get to target. But once you find the right friend group they will make all of that fun. Dont be affraid to branch out.