Indiana University of Pennsylvania-Main Campus Top Questions

To be more decisive on what i wanted to do with my time at college and what i wanted to study. i'd want to work on my time management skills more prior to college. apply for a job on campus beginning of freshman year and to just over all work a little harder than i did to begin with.

My senior year of High School was a blur. The only thing that I can remember is not wanting to be there anymore. I did not apply to very many colleges, and was disappointed with the three choices I had. As a future Music Education major, I knew that I didn't want to go a school where I would be frustrated by a subpar music program. The only one that had a Music program that I thought would be sufficient was far too expensive. The other was in Potsdam New York and I did not want to be in an area where the winters are relentless. I came to Indiana University of Pennsylvania with little knowledge of what to expect. During my freshmen year here I did the research I should have done the year before, and I applied to five new schools. I got into a few of them, but decided that I liked it here. It may not have been my first choice, but I had come to like the music program and the campus. If I could tell myself one thing it would be to do the research now because you will regret it later.

Dear Cheng, I know that you may not want to know what I am about to tell you, but mark these words well. In less than three years, you will become permanently disabled. You will have the greatest difficulty climbing stairs and taking hikes. Your strength will deteriorate quicker than you think especially from your waist down. But all this can be helped if you heed the following instructions. From here on forward, you must downsize your life and pack very light. Most items that you wish to buy are not needed and you will end up throwing them out anyways. The most important thing you need to do is to organize a regular exercise routine into your life. The more regular exercise you get, the longer your strength will stay with you. Make sure to increase your keyboarding proficiency now while you still have time. Be careful about spending too much time with so-called "friends" since most of them will not care about you after college ends. Keep your family close and watch over Dad's health because he'll suffer soon. Your life will be hard, but never give up for any reason! Sincerely, future Cheng

Although my first semester in college was very successful, it required a lot of effort on my part. There was a constant struggle when it came to finding a quiet place to study, because even the library seemed to be loud to my ears. In high school, studying seemed to be easy: I was given an hour of study hall plus other free periods for time to study, and this was more than enough for all the more work I needed to do. However in college, the work load is much greater and I need to spend at least three hours a night with a book open in front of me. This means I need to find a quiet place away from all the partying in my school. If I could go back and talk to my high school self, I would tell me to start saving money to rent my own place off campus, that way I always have somewhere quiet to go for my homework. I would tell myself that it is time to start practicing for my future in college, and get used to the idea of having very little time for a social life.

"Look, I know you're a big procrastinator. You can't do that anymore. These things you're about to start will take up your whole life if you do. You just won't have time to play that game in the evening or go out with you girlfriend. You'll have to do things you don't really like doing but,trust me, they're not that bad. It'll be totally worth every penny if you can just do these few things. Have fun buddy."

Now that I am a college freshman I know that college life is a part of becomng an adult. I would have told myself to become more involved in school activities and community sevice. This is a very imprtant aspect of high school life because it would have given me more experience on interacting with different people and on leadership skills. Being more involved in high school also would have given me an advantage in many scholarships because I would have had more to talk about. For example, if I would have increased my number of community service hours I would have met more people and would have had a broader idea of life. Another thing I would have told myself is to develop better study skills because this is a very important aspect of college life. I struggled at the beginning of my freshman year with some school work because I did not have a solid ground to work off of. Eventually as the semester progressed I developed habits that helped me succeed, but if I would have built a solid studying habit in high school the beggining of my freshman year would have been much easier.

I would advise myself to work and push alot harder in my classes and get involved in a few more extracurricular activities. I found out late that it's scholarships that really help you financially in college and there weren't alot things I couldn't apply for because I didnt apply myself to more things. So I think that's what I would definitley tell myself if could back and do so.

Be optimistic and always believe in yourself. College is a gift, and if you are lucky enough to get there, do not take it for granted. Throughout changing my major four different times, I have finally found my passion, psychology. I struggled through my Pre-med classes freshman year, my Pre-Physical therapy and Pre-Optometry classed sophomore year, and started to doubt my intelligence. I felt cheated for how much work I was putting in. After a long haul I found psychology, and never looked back. My advice to myself would be do not give up, everyone is good at something. When I found Psychology, I excelled, and fell in love with the information. Best of all, all of a sudden classes were enjoyable, reading was fun, and I believed in myself again. The best advice I could have gotten as a senior is: find your passion, because once you do life gets a little easier and it is definitely more exciting. Be optimistic and know that anything can happen and you determine your own fate. Everyone fails at something, but always make the choice to be strong and get back up and last but not least have fun.

Don't make a decision about schools based on the "brand name", IUP is where you'll be happy.

I would tell myself that it is very important to not fret about college life. I would let myself know that it would be fun. I would mainly focus on telling myself that I love what I am doing right now. I would say that I would truly love the IUP Culinary School, and that it is truly my passion. It is honestly what I want to do with my life and that it is my true calling.