Lake Washington Institute of Technology Top Questions

Knowing what I know now about college life and transitioning from High School to College, there is a lot of advice I would give myself if I could go back in time to when I was a high school senior. There is a lot of pressure put on you when you’re a high school senior not only from yourself but from your parents and teachers. When I was in high school my parents did not make college an option for me. Whether I was ready or not I went to college because that’s what my parents thought would be best for me. Looking back now I know that going straight from high school to college wasn’t right for me. I had too much going on in my life at that time and I should have expressed those feelings to my parents. Communication is key and following your heart and what you want is most important. The main advice would be to do what makes you happy and make the best decision for your future.

College is not like High School, you are in control of your future and your success. I'm not going to state the obvious ways to be successful, because those are common sense. What most students don't know is: 1) The value of adequate sleep; regardless of how prepared you think you are, without enough sleep you will only set yourself up for failure. Sleep recharges your body and mind allowing you to focus and new information easier to retain. 2) A life with a sense of of accomplishment is far greater than one filled with regret. When it gets difficult to manage school and life, consider how giving up feels compared to how success feels. You will see that quitting is not an option. 3) Set realistic goals in the present and use those to set future goals; accomplishment is success. Don't sabotage your own success. It's easy to let stress take over just remember to take a breath, better yet take a nap and allow yourself to succeed. Only you can place limitations on your life and only you can remove those limitations; live an unlimited life.

Try to go straight to univeristy even if I need to take loans, if not accepted/not possible make sure to triple check that I'm taking advantage of all the aid and possibilites to be able to go to college and not waste any time. Make sure to ask all the people that are informed on the matter.

If I had the ability to go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would encourage myself to save as much money as possible for college. At the time, I was working a part time job at a cinema, so I had money, but I admit that I spent it frivolously when I should have saved it. I saved $1,000 and paid for my first quarter of technical college, but after that, I had to take out loans to pay for my schooling. I would encourage my high school senior self to also take a quarter to study abroad, whether in Germany, Spain or South America since I took both Spanish and German in high school. I would inform my younger self of how expensive life in general is, and let her know that she needs to save for an apartment at some point so that she isn?t always living at home with our parents. I would inform her of various opportunities that are given in the way of scholarships and encourage her to apply. I didn?t start applying for scholarships until I was actually in college. Hopefully she would listen.

Learn better study habits, high school did not prepare you for the amount or quality of studying the is necessary for college. Study first and reward yourself after you are done, but remember to take small breaks occassionally so you do not burn yourself out. Learn how to skim read your text books for most material, actually read the topics that you need more information from or about.