Clark University Top Questions

Nate, Don't go to Hobart. You will make a few good friends, but that school is what everyone says it is. There are great academics, and professors, but the attitude of the school is not for you. You know that, don't go there to spite your mother. Think about what's best for you and your future. Clark is a far better school for you. It is a warmer atmosphere and you will have far more fun in the first few days than you had at Hobart. Plus if you go there now, it will be cheaper than transferring, which you're bound to do. When you get to Clark, don't hold yourself back, join an improv comedy group. Go for runs. Make friends and be brave. College will only give you what you choose to get out of it. The same is true for life. You have to take your own goals into your hands. Try hard and never give up, and no matter how bad you fail, you will always be able to pick yourself up and go for your goal. Good luck, Nate P.S. Wash your dishes more often, it's gross.

During high school, I loved reading, writing, and studying in general. I loved talking about books and discussing debates from class even at lunch time or after school ended. I was the only person I knew who enjoyed reading just as much as, if not more than, having fun in typically teenage ways. I loved listening to NPR and relating what I had heard to classwork. When I went to college, I learned tha so many more people with these interests existed. I could mention an article I had heard on the radio and a chorus of people would respons with, "OH! I heard that too!" instead of blank stares. Talking about class reaing wasn't "nerdy." In college, you find things you are passionate about and you are supposed to learn how to relate these things to the larger world. The advice I would give to my high school self would be to keep on being passionate about the world because someday this passion will promote positive change and creativity and also because college is full of intelligent, passionate people.

If I could go back in time and talk to my high school senior self, I would tell her to listen to dad. The idea of a school far may sound wonderful right now, especially one in a place where so much could be going on at any time, but it's not worth it. If I could go back and change my own mind, I would go to a much cheaper school that is still in Maine to complete my undergraduate degree. Save the fancy, big-name school for when you decide to go to graduate school. I wish I could go back and make myself save more money than I spent and worked harder to be able to have money saved up in case of an emergency. I would tell myself to apply to as many scholarships as possible, because even though I got a great financial aid package, it might not be as easy as expected to get the grades necessary to continue it...

I would advise to be more concious of opportunities that pop up to help you understand the world around me. It is more important that you try to make lasting connections with people who truly care about you. Aquiantences are sometimes not worth your time, but true friendships golden and hard to find. Do not miss out on opportunities to explore where you live and where you want to go. Having first-hand experiences in challenging situations is key to building character and street intelligence. If you do not get outside and explore, you will fall behind in life because you will not know how to handle the obsticals of your location and explore its hidden gems. Additionally, it is important to educate yourself about national and global current events and connect them to larger ideas about global systems, policies, economies, and movements that affect the world today. Because young people are often deprived of good political and social education in school, you must reach outward and start conversations about these things. Again, you must connect with others with the goal of forming opinions about political and social topics to learn about systems that dictate how the world runs.

All of the fundamental things to be successful in college are learned in elementary school and perfected in high school; college is where you apply it. It’s where you prove what you are made of. Although I do believe all of the subjects you learn in school are important, the most important things you learn are the skills; time management, self-motivation, study habits, and group work. It is vital to make sure to perfect these skills. Doing so will guarantee you good grades. Not only will you help yourself be successful in college but you will also be preparing yourself for a professional career and for the responsibilities of adulthood. Take advantage of the fact that you have time right now. Experiment with different ways of studying such as flashcards or group study sessions. Try out calendars or planners to plan out your day to make sure you set reminders and meet deadlines, it will definitely avoid the unnecessary stress of procrastination. High school is your time to master skills you will use for the rest of your life.

At that time in my life I would have been working in a clothing store. I would have told myself to sign up for college immediately. I would have pushed myself to learn more about the help I could have recieved to attend college. That continuing my education is the most important thing I can do for my future. Attending college before I have children will be easier than trying to earn a degree with so many distractions. I would not have had to endured so much financial hardship if I had went to college and earned a degree. I would have been able to create the life I have always wanted much sooner and been more self confident in life. I would have said all the things I wish someone would have told me at the time, because I really needed someone to push me in the right direction back then.

Everything works out in the end. Don't worry about something going wrong, everything happens for a reason. There are big things that you will acomplish in your life so don't get hung up on bad things that happen. You don't need a million friends and a crazy social life you just need the friends that will stick by you forever and you do have those. Appreciate you family and learn how to forgive because nobody is perfect. College will be tough in the beginning but you will have the best time of your life. The people you meet here will be some of the best you have ever known. Be strong and stay smart.

The one piece of advice I would give myself in high school is to have fun and cherish all the memories. Once you get to college a lot of pressure gets put on yourself to choose a career path and figure out what you want to do with your life. Althugh college is fun, it can feel like a job of sorts as so much time and effort is put towards studying and doig research. I wish I could of enjoyed high school a little more and joined more clubs because those 4 years go by fast and you want to cherish every minute of it.

When I was a high school, I didn't care much for my future. Being a gay guy in a small town in Western Massachusetts lopped away at my optimism for life early in my youth. I viewed the world in all my naivity from a closet; an allegorical and Platonic cave if you will. My senior year I was named to the MA All-State soccer team, played in an All-Star soccer game that got me recruited to Clark, finished my senior year with a GPA above a 4.0., and yet I can only define how I percieved my life as morose and indifferent. Before I eventually came to Clark, I had no clue what it felt like to feel accepted and worthy of praise. The advice I would give myself would be to take a look beyond the cave and see what the future can offer. Consider all of your options and know that there is another world out there waiting for you because I know you are looking for a new one.

I would explain to myself about how rewarding it feels to work in the medical field. Once I started working in a hospital, I realized that the duties one performs no longer feel like just a simple job. Those duties become a passion; a passion to make the people you take care of feel better than they ever could have without your help. The simple comforts you provide become much more than something simple. They flourish into all the thank you's and appreciations that the patients and patients' families will bestow upon you. At the end of the day, all of that is a just payment in itself. Every work shift matters and will justify all of the hard work that you put forth.