Kent State University at Kent Top Questions

If I could talk to myself as a high school senior I would try to convince myself to take some things more seriously than others. I would tell myself that how people view you doesn't matter as much as how you view yourself. Have confidence in your abilities and don't ever let anyone tell you how you should act. The most important thing you can do is be yourself because you are the one that has to live with the person you become. Also, learn how to do taxes. Because taxes are hard but necessary. So ask for help. Never be afraid to ask for help. Everyone can be a resource, so don't hesitate to pick their brain for information. Just remember to love yourself without bounds and don't push people away because you don't want to get hurt. It is okay to get hurt. You just have to get back up and try again. It'll all be okay. Everything will work out in the end. Just keep believing.

If I could go and talk to myself as a high school senior, the biggest piece of advice I could give to myself would be that I should have gotten a job that summer. I looked for one, but not hard enough, and I should have tried harder. Having more money would have releived a lot of stress from my first semester at school. Something else I would tell myself is that I would see almost nobody from high school once I left, so to do whatever I wanted with how I looked. Only once I got to college was I brave enough to cut my hair and look the way I felt comfortable, however I would have done it earlier had I had the courage. I definitely would have told myself how much happier I would have been with short hair, and that I should just do it while I'm still in high school because what everyone else thought wouldn't matter.

If I could go back and talk to my past self I would tell myself that studying becomes more important in college. I would also tell myself to apply for scholarships early and on time and take every learning opportunity that arises. I would also tell myself to do more for the community and take time to enjoy the little things and my friends. I would tell myself to take advantage of having my parents as assests for financial stability and to get a job. The more money you make now the better it will be for your future endeavors. Finally, I would tell myself to take every opportunity to prepare now for the future.

If I could go back and talk to my younger self, I would tell myself so much. I would tell myself to find your true friends quickly, and don't let people who pretend to care about you in your life; because you will suffer greatly from it. I would tell myself to stop procrastinating and actually wake up in the morning, to listen to Mom and Dad when they tell me things. To make sure my physical health is intact, eat better, and keep swimming even if you can't get the urge to get out of bed. Overall I would just tell myself to let herself have fun, learn to love coffee, and to never give up, because I know I almost did.

Advice I would give to graduating high school seniors would be to fill out scholarships. College is expensive, you need all the scholarships you can get to pay for college. When you go to college you will have a lot more freedom then you did in high school. Some mistakes freshmen make when they start college is they take advantage of the freedom they are given by studying less, partying/hanging out with friends more. Don't take advantage of the freedom because you will fall behind on grades & eventually not be able to bring them up. College is a completely different than high school. Get involved early on by joining different clubs and organizations, do not be afraind to make friends that you wouldn't normally be friends with. You would be surprised who you can come friends with at college. College is where you can meet some of the best friends of your life. College is where you find yourself and are able to become more independent. It's okay if you don't know what you want to do with the rest of your life and it is perfectly fine if you change major once or more.

If I could go back and talk to myself I would encourage myself to wait to declaire a major until my third semester. It has brought me a lot of pain and grief over trying to decide weather or not to change my major or to just tough it out. I would also remind myself that no teacher is going to chace you down and remind you to turn in your homework. It is now your responsiblity and your responsiblity only.

There are a few things that I would warn myself about if I could go back and talk to myself before I graduated. I would warn myself that I would need to learn to study because in college, it is a very vital skill to have. I would also warn myself that even though finally getting the chance to live on my own may make it seem like I get to make my own rules, which is partially true, I still need to keep in mind how much responsibility is tied into the experience. Also, the professors in college are much more strict about deadlines. College is very different from high school. You won't always have someone telling you what to do and when to do it every day. Everything is on you.

I would tell myself several things. The first thing I would say would be along the lines of: do not expect everything to be exactly as you think it is going to be. There is no way that things are going to end up going the way that you have planned and that is not always a bad thing. The second thing would be: do not worry about making friends. You are actually much better at talking to people than you think you are.

I would tell myself to get into better study habits early on in the first semester of college. I struggled with finding a good balance between sstudying and social obligations at first. I feel that I can perform much better than I did early on in my college career. I would also tell myself to make a friend in my field or in my classes that I could study with. Someone else that had the same knowledge and information as me to help keep me accountable for my schoolwork and other obligations would have been helpful.

Don't forget what you love. In a world so focused on capital gains, it's very easy to disregard what makes you happy in exchange for what makes you money. I'm saying this to you now, my high school senior self, because that is what I have learned in the past two years since graduation. If I had actually recieved this advice in 2013, maybe I would not have spent $22,000 dollars on a year of unhappiness at a liberal arts school and a subsequent year spent working full-time as a waitress, trying to save some money. Take the risk and go to art school. Do what you have loved since the first day of kindergarten. It is no use changing your stubborn mind in favor of what you think you are supposed to do. Don't forget about art, even if it won't be the most lucrative or stable path. Making the decision to retire from a classic liberal arts education and dive back into art will save you. Dont' forget what you love and you will thrive.