James Madison University Top Questions

If I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be to crave. Crave everything. Everything and anything that brings you joy, calm, peace of mind, energy, adrenaline, and every emotion you seek to fulfil daily. College is about discovering what you love, not discovering who you are. You’re eighteen now, and when you graduate you will be twenty-two. You will still have no idea who you are when you are graduating from college. However, if you wake up every day unafraid to crave those adventures and experiences you love, not even allowing yourself a second to be scared or question your abilities, you will walk across that stage on graduation day and feel more than confident that you know who you are; you will feel free. So, yes, while you’re at school you’ll need to buckle down sometimes and make the grades and go to class. But always remember, you will never get another chance like this. College will be hard, it will challenge you, and it will change you. But if you wake up every morning craving the newness that comes with those changes, you will never regret any of it.

I didn’t like high school because I thought it was not an efficient use of my time for how little I was learning in the vast amount of time. If I knew college was so great, I probably would have been happier knowing hope was near. I am already a pretty independent person, so I did not have any trouble transitioning away from home. I also did not have a hard time with the extra homework and time management problems because I went to a rigorous private school that assigned much more busy homework. Overall, if I could give a message to myself senior year, all I could say is just hang in there. The light is near. Just try to enjoy those last moments of "childhood." Time will fly after that stage.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, the first and most important thing I would tell myself is to focus on what I want to do and not to be afraid to be myself. I attended an extremely small high school (graduating class of 19), and it was very easy to be excluded and very easy to learn how to conform in order to avoid being excluded. Since attending JMU, I have realized that it's okay to have my own opinions and to love who I am as a person. I realized that it's okay to do my own thing. As silly as this sounds, it was a huge revelation for me and who I have become since high school. I would also tell myself to start forming better study habits and stop procrastination before I got to college. As valedictorian of my class, I breezed through high school and was shocked when I came to college and realized that I couldn't do the same. Overall I am extremely pleased with the college experience I have had thus far!

There is nothing I’d like more than to be able to travel back in time and tell myself so many things. Especially when it comes to school. I feel like I’ve done so many errors and now there’s no way I can fix them. Although if I had such opportunity, I would tell myself not to waste time more than anything! To focus in school and to pay attention in my classes. I wasted too much time doing other things rather than studying. I would tell myself all the things I went through and the consequences that came with them. I would tell me all the other choices I had and how it would have benefited me. More than anything I would make me understand the importance of applying to scholarships and doing well in my tests. I would not leave until I knew I had fully understood and make sure that from there on, I would only make good choices that would lead me to a future full of success and very few failures. That would be one of the best gifts I could ever give myself.

Stop thinking you aren't good enough to follow your dreams. You are smart enough and completely capable and you can do it. Yes it will be hard and require a lot of studying and yes you will be broke and hungry but in the end it will all be worth it. I wish I hadn't waited to start chasing my dreams because I would have been able to start making a difference in the world that much sooner. If I had gone to college straight out of high school I could be out there working my dream career, making a difference, helping fight to protect what I love: the unadulterated natural world. I could be saving endangered species and protecting sensitive habitats. Read "Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations" by Eric Dinerstein. It is what inspired me to finally go back to school and go after my dreams. And then make it happen! Don't wait! Don't doubt yourself. You can do it and you can do it now.

The funny part about going to college is you leave home thinking you know everything and you come back reveling in the joy of knowing you know absolutely nothing. The past two and a half years have been this beautiful mess of making choices and overanalyzing those choices and taking the good from each of them. You find out what you are truly made of when you have to find your way out of interesting situations. And if I had given myself any type of advice I may have been too cautious. I may have held back instead of running full speed into this gigantic gaping hole of the unknown in which I somehow found myself. However, there are two things I wish someone would have told me before I made the big move. Hug mom a little bit tighter before bed tonight. And on a completely different note, avoid the breakfast casserole at D-Hall.

All my senior self could say about herself was that she was a failure as a person and I couldn't be successful in college. Students get it stuck in their mind that no matter what they do, college will be hard and it will be impossible to finish. Stop hating yourself. That is the fact. College isn't all those things you thought so stop doubting yourself and just love yourself and love what you do. College is not make there to cry, it is there to make you see that you are a fantastic person who will find people who will love you unconditionally. You learn to live with others. That comes quickly. Becoming skilled in your area-- that takes a little more time. Finding the meaning to life--well, that comes later, but the mean time you will answer a lot more important questions and discover things you never had before. To my senior self: You haven't seen anything yet.

I would tell myself to be prepared. There are many clubs to join, so get involved, and there are many parties, but do not go overboard. There is also a lot of people to meet, so be open and outgoing. Basically, there is a lot that happens in college, so just be involved and make the decisions that will help you in the long run.

Don't stress too much. You are going to be fine. You know good and well that you're going to be stressed, so take it easy. Don't take on too much all at once. You need to pace yourself and not worry so much. You will always work hard. It is part of who you are so don't beat yourself up about a few bad grades. It will all turn out in the end. You're going to do great and everybody will tell you so. Oh, and don't procratinate and try to write important things down.

Knowing the kind of information I know now, I would tell my old self to focus on becoming a better test taker. I would also tell my high school senior self to read a lot of literature. Ever since taking the SATs, I found that I lacked adequate reading skills and ever since devoted my time to doing just that. I have read an impressive 30 books and novels since then, on a wide variety of topics, ranging from relationships, personal development, social sciences, fiction, and American classics, such as This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, etc. I believed my reading skills are now at the level which is adequate of a college student and I feel a lot better about myself. I guess I could say that reading saved me from the hectic external world and has allowed me to focus on the essentials. So if I were to give one advice to my naïve and unworldly self, I would say it is to read plenty.