Kansas State University Top Questions

Take school more seriously. I know going to class is "optional", but go to class. Make sure you learn good study habits before you get to college, or you will be in for a rude awakening. Also, do not take the small things for granted. Take life day by day and make sure you the people you care about know it. Try and stay busy. I have found that the busier you are the better you seem to be doing in life. Lastly, don't forget to go back home every once and awhile. Your parents miss you and it is difficult for them to let you suddenly leave. Go Cats!

If I could go back in time and give advice to the high school senior version of me, I would tell myself to join the military right out of high school. I ended up joining the military in the middle of college because I needed a way to pay for it. I ended up deploying my junior year. I would have preferred to do complete my military service prior to attending college. I would have been able to maximize the benefits by allowing the military to pay for all of my college instead of only half of it. And I would not have had to take a two year break in the middle of college.

Dear High School Kaitie, I know how you feel. I look back and my stomach twists. The extracurriculars, grades, relationships and all-consuming fear of failure come flooding back. I know you’re tired, you’re scared and you wish you could let yourself be “normal.” You wish that you could feel comfortable partying, that you wouldn’t be ill with worry if you skipped homework and that you didn’t guard your heart so closely that you graduate without your first kiss. Above everything, you wish you knew what was next. I can help with that one. You’ll stand out: on paper and in person. Within your first semester, you gain five wonderful jobs. You will come in as a sophomore by hours. You will meet incredible people. Basically, if you stop, you’re giving up a lot. So keep going but, I’m begging you, breath in between. People won’t call you a slacker if you sleep more than four hours a night. Don’t wait until college to find a balance. I promise you, it exists. I’m living it now. Love, Yourself P.S. Sorry hon; I’m still waiting on that kiss.

Give yourself time to make friends and be social. It's not going to kill you to get a few bad grades, but being antisocial all the time will make you go a little insane. That being said, also give yourself time to study and focus. It's not going to kill you to miss a frat party or a night out drinking; in fact, it's probably better for your health and your GPA. Try to find a balance that works for you. It might take you half of a semester or even an entire year, but eventually you'll find the right balance. Go home and see your parents; trust me, they miss you. Keep in touch with old friends, even if you're several hundred miles apart. And, finally, don't stress and worry about every little detail. Everything will work itself out.

Fly as much as i can in cheaper aircraft. College aircraft are much more expensive.

The biggest thing I would go back and tell my high school self is to push myself as hard as I could because it is worth it. If I could I would go back and take as many college credit courses as possible because when you come prepared for college it makes the transition less stressful and easier in the long run. I would tell myself college should be fun, and it will be but the harder I work the better it will be. I have stregths but I also have weaknesses, one of those weaknesses is Math. If I could go back I would have worked harder in my high school math classes and made sure I left high school feeling more comfortable with my math abilities. Doing that would make my transition into some of my classes easier and more comfortable.

Get out. The words kept pounding in my head every day leading up to graduation. I was like a ticking time bomb just wanting to get out of what was expected of me and what had been expected of me for the last eighteen years. The idea of going to a state school where I would be just one in a sea of students made me frantic. The idea of graduating from a state school with an art degree, instead of some fancy school that would cost me a kidney every semester absolutley appalled me. I didn't necessarily occur to me that the expecations I put on myself were not only unrealistic, but also out of any normal sort of context. The peers I graduated with were all students who were all very gifted in their educational pursuits. I didn't know it at the time, but every scenario I was put through with those peers was hyper-accentuated because of their rare mindsets. If I could tell my highschool self anything it would be this: the paths they pursue place no value on what you will push yourself to achieve, because your capability of influence far surpasses highschool.

I would tell my self to not do the AP classes ad do the college classes instead. The best thing I ever did was take college classes to help prepare myself for Kansas State Unversity. I would also tell myself to be more relax and enjoy the time with your friends, because shortly you will not see them as much.

I would encourage myself to go straight to a four year university instead of going to a community college and transfering. The college experience and transitions would have been easier even though the financial burden would have been greater. I would also suggest taking the ACT again and trying for a high score even though my parents thought it was a stupid idea. Bottom line, is my parents are not always correct and have lead me astray in certain aspects of my college carreer, I would suggest to my high school senior self to make more of my own decisions instead of listening to my parents.

It's okay not to have everything figured out. Pursue what you're passionate about. If you don't know what your passion is, discover it. There are so many opportunities out there that you have the chance to take. If you do what you love, you won't get burnt out. College is about so much more than going to class and getting good grades. It's about finding yourself. It's about discovering what you're passionate about and finding a way to pursue that in your career.