Central Michigan University Top Questions

Everything about college has opened my eyes and broadened my viewpoint on multiple matters. Being that in high school I thought I had the rest of my life figured out in a ten year plan, I would go back and tell myself I was an idiot followed by a few important tips. Firstly, you WILL cry at some point during your first week, whether it's the minute your parents pull away after moving you in to your dorm or when you realize your roommate smells like bad fish. Second, going to parties is a great part of college life, but don't drink yourself into the toilet bowl, or so to speak. No one wants to party with the pukey, whiney chick. No one. Third, there's a reason why in fairytales Prince Charming doesn't wear bro tanks and Sperry's. Finally, have fun being yourself. High school is over and no one cares if you were on Homecoming Court or not. College is for expression and invention of a life you can be proud of. So let go of expectations and just do your thing. There's no mistakes, only opportunities to learn.

The best part of my college experience has been the people I have met in my journey. The only reason I was able to meet them was from the choice I made to leave my comfort zone. I have grown so much as a person and have focus towards the goals for my future. If I could give advice to my high school self, I would tell him to leave his comfort zone earlier and more often. By gaining these networks of friends and skills from trying new things he would be suprised from the growth in just 5 short years.

I would tell myself to not worry about my roomates. I would say these girls are going to be your new best friends. You will laugh and cry with them, mostly laughing, and they will be there for you if you need a hug or someone to talk too. Don't worry about leaving home, your parents are going to be ok and nothing bad will happen. I would tell my old self to become more organized, dates can get lost in your head if you don't write it down. Also study more and be more fouced yes school can be easy for you but if you want above a 3.5 you have to try harder. Don't worry about making friends, you will meet people who think you are amazing.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, knowing what I know now about college life and making the transition from high school to college I would inform myself that it is important to make goals, keep a positive mindset, and not procrastinate. Before entering college I had no clue of how important it was to make goals and keep a positive mindset. In college goals will set you in the right direction and keep you on track along with those goals a positive attitude is needed to motivate you to continue and push to acheive those goals. With this advice I believe I would be motivated more to accomplish things that I do no think I can accomplish. With goals it will motivate me to start assignments that I unfortunately wait until the last moment to do and stress over yet pull through. Advice such as that would have made my first semester mush more smooth than it was and because of what I have learned my second semesteris going well compared to the previous one.

The advice I would give to high school me would be to take as many advanced placement courses as possible. They boost your GPA as well as give you the opportunity to recieve college credit for a very cheap price. You have a lot more free time in high school to so this would be a good time to study for those AP tests. I would have also taken more classes at the community college before going away to a university where college credits are much more expensive. Also, now that I am in college, I realize how taking the harder or more challening classes in high school benefit you in college. They really help make sure you are ready because college classes move at a much faster pace. In high school, I wish I would have also taken classes that would have taught me entirely new skills or classes that didn't interest me at first because you never know what you are going to like or enjoy and this will give you the best idea of what you want to do in your future career.

I would advise myself to start thinking of the future. I wouldn't want myself to give up, even temporarily, on my dreams. I would assure myself that I will be able to make it, and that everything will be okay. I would notify myself that actually doing homework is important, and procrastinating doesn't help at all.

Hey Kyle, It’s your college-self talking…Well writing. Don’t even think about not finishing this; I have something important to tell you. Are you ready? You need to put more effort in college than you did in high school. Don’t lie to me, I know that high school was easy for you, and that you didn’t have to study for tests, do the readings, or go to class to get good grades. College is different though, and a lot harder. Don’t skip classes, even if your proffesors don't care. You need to study, and read your textbooks! You're paying for these classes and those books. Don't waste your money. Once you graduate high school, you have a scholarship waiting for you also. You don’t want to lose it do you? You know mom will never forgive you if you get it taken away, especially if it’s your own fault. So you had better get prepared to make some changes Kyle. You can do this! Don’t be lazy! Don’t think you can pass effortlessly! Stay motivated! And Kyle, enjoy college. It truly is a great experience.Love Kyle

Ah, if only I could go back and knowing what I know now about college, and just life in general, I would have made many changes. I would have put more effort in discovering "who I am" as a person, rather then leaving it for after college. I would have followed my passions that corresponded with a monetary future, because as hard and cliché as it sounds money does make the world around, and a good career takes you around the world. It's simple, while you are in school, make sure to pour all of your heart and soul into becoming someone, somebody and don’t wait to make this decision after school. They say it’s never to late to turn your life around, well sometimes something’s never change. So stay young, stay wise.

I should have started earlier aplying for colleges, and scholarships. Homework is called homework for a reason, and I need to learn to balance my life.

I would tell myself that even though it took us a little longer to get to college it was worth it. It has opened me up to new people and situations that I have never been in before and have actually learned a lot from it. The only advice I would have is to be more aggressive when it came to applying for scholarships and to ask for less when it came to student loans.