Colorado State University-Fort Collins Top Questions

Dear High School Self, I am here to tell you how important it is to quit procrastinating. Although doing things at the last minute has gotten you this far in life you will soon realize the importance of getting things done and turned in on time. Missing deadlines will cause you major setbacks in reaching your goals. To ensure this won't happen plan your own deadlines at least a week in advance of the actual deadline. You will forever regret the scholarships you don't get and the programs you don't get into because of your dalliance. I would also like to beg you to apply for as many scholarships as possible. Going to college full-time to become a Nurse will be way more stressful if you also have to work full-time to pay the bills and feed yourself. Scholarships will be your key to success in your future. When you do receive scholarships be forever thankful to those who make reaching your career goals possible.

The biggest advice I would give myself is go to every single class. I have found that showing up to class is half the battle when trying to do well on tests. My first semester as a freshman, was full of new exciting experiences and even though I pulled off a 3.5 gpa, I kick myself knowing that I could have done so much better. I would stress the importance to the high school me that it really is worth every single minute of my time to spend with my professors, and that breakfast at Denny's with new friends or an extra hour of sleep is isn't as valuable. I would tell myself that being and excellent student and having excellent grades has always been very important to us, and so in college I would need to put in extra effort to be great, even if that extra effort seems unimportant at the time. I would tell myself that we want to succeed, we want to succeed very badly.

You do not know what you want to do. Just like everyone said you will change your major a handful of times. Pick the school that gives you the most options and is most laid back. No matter where you graduate from, you will get a job. The key to success is to be open minded and live one step at a time.

In 2004, I dropped out of high school and obtained my GED. I was a sophomore. However, I would have told myself, at that critical juncture, not to be so easily bogged down by my parents' divorce and to go to class. I feel that, had I completed that school year, I would already have finished my undergraduate studies by my current age of 25. It wouldn't be easy, but I'd try to motivate myself to stick with it and pursue education passionately. I've always loved to learn, but I let my fleeting circumstances seem more important than my future in academia. I greatly regret having ever held that unbalanced view of school, so my goal would be to persuade myself that I'd be better off in the long run if I didn't drop out.

The first thing that I would tell myself is to fill out as many scholarships as possible. While applying for schools I should pay attention to climate, environment, and cultural of the surrounding environment as well as what the school has to offer. I would make sure to tell myself to be realistic while applying to schools, but also don't let anyone tell me I am not good enough to go to a certain school. Lastly, I would tell myself to stay focused and keep my priorities straight because academics come first. Overall, have fun. Being in college is a once in a life time experience.

I would tell myself that college really isn't what some people make it out to be: huge campus, hard to find classes, difficult teachers, etc. The campus grounds depend on the student population and whether or not it is a two-year or four-year school. It is easy to get around them once you have been there for a few days or so. The classes are not really hard to find, it's mainly all about figuring out where each of the buildings are and getting used to the time limits in-between classes. The teachers themselves are generally nice people; they are serious about their classes and teach you only what they are supposed to. All in all, college life really isn't bad and attending is nothing to be worried about; if you could adapt to high school, then college will be no problem.

All too often we fall into believing exactly what our parents have taught us. However, college is an opportunity to grow into the person you truly want to be. It is a time to learn about different perspectives and form your own opinions and beliefs. College is all about the experience. I would tell myself as a senior in high school not to worry; don't sweat the small stuff. It is okay to take chances and make mistakes because in the end it is all lessons learned. Talk to people, anybody and everybody. Make great friends. I would tell myself to live in the moment because college goes by quicker than you'd think. Make the most of the next four years. Take it seriously enough to avoid spending the next five years in school, but enjoy it along the way. Work hard, play hard.

If i could go back in time and talk to myself as a senior their is one main thing that I would do to prepare myself even better for college life. I would tell myself that I need to slow down, enjoy highschool and living with my parents, but to focus on my school work. I don't know how many times I have run into problems here at CSU that I look back and go "Gah if I had just studied a little harder in highschool, I wouldn't be having these problems". Another thing I might tell myself is to embrace the change. Once you get to college, at least for me anyways, my life turned a complete 180. I've always struggled with change, so if had learned to except it in highschool, than when I moved to the college life it would of been a million times easier.

College is nothing like you were expecting it to be, your expectations were way out of the ball park. Don't spend your days day dreaming of what your days at college are going to be like: relaxing, making friends, going out constantly. You will be quite disappointed. The one thing you are expecting the most is that you are going to meet many new people and life long friends but the truth is this doesn't happen right away. You are going to struggle to find yourself and to find your spot at such a big university. Just prepare yourself for the battle you are about to enter. I'm not saying that you are going to hate college, what I want to get across is that you are going to be at war with yourself constantly trying to decifer who you truly are. My best advice to you is to be yourself and don't change to fit in. The right people will come your way in time and when that does happen you will become the happiest person in the world. Believe in yourself and as the Beatles say, "Let it Be".

I would advise myself to go to college right out of high school. I would tell myself that there were a lot of financial aid programs and scholarships for young people, fresh out of high school, with a 4.0 GPA. I would tell myself to believe in myself and never let anyone or anything bring you down, or crush your hopes and dreams. I would tell myself to keep studying really hard and that I could achieve anything I wanted to. Lastly, I would tell myself to never despair; keep trying and never give up.