California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Top Questions

My college experience has helped me realize how much I still don't know and how much I still have to learn. As a college freshman I had a puffed-up idea of myself and what I would accomplish. I didn't take my studies seriously because I thought things would just work out for me without really trying. However, college has helped me realize that good things come through dedication, hard work, and through viewing myself as a student in all areas of my life. College has also helped me discover the things that I am passionate about and the things that I am not so passionate about. I found out that I should pursue a career in something I am passionate about rather than just what can make me the most money and make me the most secure in life. I have gained a more balanced perspective on my life and discovered how blessed I am to have the opportunity to learn and to pursue the career of my choice. I know that my education at Cal Poly will benefit me greatly in my future and I will be better off because of my time there.

The most beneficial thing I have gotten from coming here for college are opportunities. In high school I was never terribly involved with organizations or groups, nor did I count myself as having a strong sense of school spirit. But coming here opened my eyes to all the kinds of things I can devote myself to. Since coming here, I have joined a service fraternity to college bands, a structural engineering club, and attended lectures from world-renowned architects and engineers. Beyond that I am interested in joining more organizations like Engineers Without Borders, Chinese Student Association, and my school's Week of Welcome team which organizes orientation events for prospective students as well as incoming freshmen. I have also now found a strong sense of school pride and will gladly express it to anyone.

My college experience has provided me the opportunity to develop team working, professional, and enhanced leadership skills in a supportive environment. I have been able to form relationships with my peers that allow us to work well and learn from each other. I have also had the opportunity to participate in a variety of clubs and activities such as SIFE, ISA, and Delta Sigma Pi that have exposed me to a diverse array of experiences and helped me to develop intersts in fields that I could one day see myself having a career in. I have been provided with faculty and alumni connections that prove invaluable when it comes to networking and a strong student advising center that help me to stay on track academically. It has be very valuable for me to attend college in order to build these professional, team working, and leadership skills and I am much more prepared to go into a career after developing these skills then I was straight out of high school.

So far, my college experience has been wonderful. I have made many new friends and we are generally very good about balancing fun and work. For instance, we love going downtown or hiking or even to the Thursday night farmers markets, however if we have a midterm or something due in a class we know that it is more important for our futures to study and do well in our classes. I love that I have made new friends that share the same values that I do. It makes it much easier for me to stick to my study habits. Attending Cal Poly will be very valuble in the future as well as now. Many industry professionals look to Cal Poly to find interns and eventually hire students. The community knows that Cal Poly students get a rare, hands on eperience in their field of study. For example, I am a Graphic Communications major and I am actually running printing presses as well as designing marketing pieces, therefore gaining a very well-rounded education of the Graphic Communication industry as a whole.

I have had many good professors and learned alot. Also the dorm experience is fun in meeting so many new people. Cal Poly is an excellent place for school as the professors are great and the ties to industry are incredibly strong. Many big companies recruit directly out fo Cal Poly and I had the oppurtunity to speak to many managers and businessmen from numerous companies. I am lucky enough to receive the total package here at Cal Poly as I learn many new things in the classroom, but in life as well. I have met many new people in the dorms and in school. These interactions with other students and professors helped me learn how to establish working realtionships along with meeting many new friends. My schooling here will prepare me to hopefully create some great things as I strive to learn all I can in the Engineering programs here at Cal Poly.

In my opinion it is extremely important to attend college not only for the education but for the opportunity to find yourself. Before college I was shy and nervous in a room full of people. College brought me out of that shell. And even more than my education, it was the self confidence I was able to gain that lead me to success today. It was my instructors, the classes, my peers and the enviornemt of cal poly that molded me into the confident, educated and carismatic woman that I am today. Since attending college I have this internal drive and hunger for acheivment, not only acedemically but for all things I consider great in life. I am certain that anything I put forth 100 percent into I can achieve. And in my heart I know that all those exams, papers and allnighters were all worth the friends I made and the experience I recieved from cal poly. By obatining my degree I feel another labrynth of oppertunites was opened for me, each accomplishment wont be easy but I can guarentee the more I experience the more I will learn each and every day. After all, we Learn by Doing.

Going off to school I have learned to live on my own and be an adult in the real world. I have realized how much knowledge a person can gain from higher education but I have also realized how much I still don't know. After getting to know educated and worldy individuals, I want to surround myself with people like them becuase they challenge me in my every day life. I know that with my education I can get a well paying, respectable job and I can live life feeling accomplished. I feel that it's important to attend college so you can experience and explore the options available to you in your future, to become more open minded and not feel limited on what you can do with your life, what you canbeleive in, and even the opinions that you make on everyday choices/decisions.

What I have gotten out of college is that you can do anything if you really set your mind to it. You can really be anything you want to be you just have to have determination, and be willing to put some time and thought into it. Whether it be sleepless nights of studying for that final, or finishing up some homework. It has been valuable for me to attend college because I want a better future and I know I am on the right path to reach my goal. It has also been valuable because you get to learn how to prioritize and manage time wisely to get things done.

My college experience has taught me how to relax. Back at community college, I was plauged by the "commuter syndrome," where I would go to class only to leave as fast as I could start my car. At Cal Poly, I have been forced to make new friends, which meant getting involved in extra curricular activities and exercising my networking skills. Consequently, people like to be in relationship, and many friends have stipulated that I get out on the weekends which has helped me grow to understand that college isn't just keeping my nose in a book; it's an experience. Now I have a better understanding of how to balance fun and shool while still being successful in the classroom. I have counted this a valuable experience because no matter how hectic the day, I still go to bed filled with joy, ready for upcoming day. Cal Poly's campus is populated with enthusiastic and diversely passionate people, many of whom I could never have known being anywhere else. Plus, this environment has only fueled my own passion to learn and continue towards my personal educational goals.

My college experience has been positive in every aspect as my teachers have been attentive to their students and they care deeply about their subjects. I am inspired by their dedication and drive, so much so that I have almost changed my major to pursue Anthropology. My current dual major is Chemistry/Theatre. I love to learn, and Aims Community College has made my education a joyous experience. I can't wait to transfer to a 4-year university after I am finished at Aims to continue my education. College is an invaulable opportunity that I am blessed to be able to pursue. It has and will continue to help me pursue my dreams. I dream to change the world from both the stage and the research lab by inspiring people to pursue their own dreams and finding the cures to some of the diseases that prevent them from doing so. I would not trade my time at Aims for anything; the teachers there continue to help and inspire me to fulfill my dreams.