Miami University-Oxford Top Questions

Hey Dawn! It's me - yourself - 20 years from now hoping to provide you with a little guidance with regards to some of your current choices. I know that you are facing many decisions in unchartered waters, but I am here to provide you with some insight. I know that you are deciding which college to attend. Make sure that you pick a school that is right for you - not the right school according to mom and dad or where your current friends will be. You will be happy at a school that is right for YOU and I promise you will make many new friends there. Once there, don't worry about choosing a major right away. Take many new classes so you can explore what you want to do and how your career will make you happy. And most important of all, make sure to always be true to yourself and your morals. When all is said and done, no one can take away your beliefs, values, or morals from you. Remember to always believe in yourself and trust in the decisions that you make. Be proud of who you are and be strong. Good luck!

Self... Let me clue you in on some of the trade secrets about college life and making the transition. Since you will be living at home, you don't have to worry about isolating yourself from your family. Commuting back and forth to school each day may seem like a pain at times, especially of you need to fill up the car (by the way, don't expect gas prices to not go above $3.30 as late as you think they will), but the end result of this will be that you will get to meet a wide assortment of people that have been living in the area and did the same thing you did by going to college locally. As far as studying goes, there will be times that you won't be motivated to do anything but sleep and lounge around and pushing off the work (something that is also not good in searching for scholarship). This will only lead to negative results in your final grades your first full semester in. Don't think the habits from high school will help you get very far here. Absolve yourself to be committed, and you will succeed.

Do not wear your lanyard around your neck!! This is a no-no for some reason. Also, do not dress up for your first day of class... try and focus on just being comfortable or wearing jean shorts and a nice top, you want to look nice. Get to know people in your dorm and get involved in at least one thing your first year! Enjoy your weekends, but make sure you don't lose control... it's hard your first year because you have so much freedom, but use it wisely!

The first month of college is rough. You will be mixed into groups of people you can’t relate to, overwhelmed by your course load, unenthused by parties and drinking and confused about your role at the university. Just remember to hold your head up high, keep your faith and don’t let others influence your decisions or morals. Eventually you will find your niche, make friends that will be your bridesmaids, travel around the world and call Miami University home. Upon graduation from Miami you will cry and wish it wasn’t over. Years later you will reminisce and wonder if you will ever have as much fun as you did in your college years. So enjoy every minute, soak up the memories and just be you.

Knowing what I know now, I would tell myself that college involves studying and not just doing homework. I would tell myself that in order to do well in college I need to form lasting study habits that involve more than just doing the work. I would also note that college campuses are large in comparison to high school. Teachers will not necessarily know if you are having trouble and that you will need to proactive and seek help when needed. As a high school senior it seems like you are on top of the world, but college is a new and different experience. Those who really succeed and maintain high gpas are those who spend two hours of studying for every hour they are in class. It seems like it's just a saying but in all actuality it is the honest truth and one way or another every student figures this out eventually. Don't however, forget to have fun. It's the start of you becoming more independent and should be enjoyed even if that means occassionally blowing off a night's worth of studying. Social engagement is very important in college.

The transition from highschool to college can be a difficult one for many new college freshmen. For me, the biggest challenge was getting accepted to my top school, and not being able to go. My parents decided they weren't going to sign for my student loans. Seeing things in hindsight, I realise there are things I could have done to help lessen the burden of the loans. I only applied to a few schools because I had only been able to visit a few schools. Some applications I just didn't send in, even though they were waived. My best advice for myself as a highschool senior (or any rising high school senior) is to find a school that offers a program that excites you. When you can read about it and your heart starts racing, that's the school for you. Don't be afraid to visit other schools too: always apply to safeties. Send in as many free apps as you recieve. If you don't like the school, you can use the "reward money" to barter with other schools. And finally- apply for as many scholarships as you are able. That is my advice to you.

If I could go back and tell myself something in high school, it would definitely be to study more. You don't realize how much more free time you have in college, seeing that you are only in class 3 or 4 hours a day. That being said, it is harder to balance your school work and your social life, at first. In high scchool, you are in class so long every day that most of your studying and work is done for you when you are there. In college, this is not the case. There is so much more going on: tons of different classes to choose from, lots of ways to get involved on campus, and lots of new people to meet, not to mention getting used to your new surroundings. It gets a little overwhelming at times, and if you aren't careful your grades can suffer from it. I would tell myself to get prepared for this aspect of college, if I would have had the chance. Knowing how to balance work and play would have saved me a lot of stress this past year.

I've always heard that hindsight is 20/20 and I would say that is unequivocally true. I went to one of the nation's most prestigious high schools, the Illinois Math and Science Academy, a boarding school in Aurora, IL. In order to attend, I decided to bypass my freshman year of high school. However, despite the fact that I'd always been successful in my educational career, in high school, I struggled more than I ever had before. If I could go back and speak to my high school-self, I would tell myself that everyone struggles and it is through our failures, shortcomings, and challenges that we learn more about ourselves. We learn how to persevere, how to ask for help, and how to surrender. I thought that struggling was equivalent to failure and couldn't find a way to believe that everyone, at one point or another, fails. No one is perfect and no one was expecting perfection from me at such a young age. I would definitely take the time to tell my younger self that struggling is a part of life and learning how to recover from failure separates the strong from the weak.

If I had the opportunity to converse with my former high school self, I'd tell myself to remember that college life and real life are not created equally. One may be book smart but that doesn't make one street smart. When you learn to merge college life and real life seamlessly you will know the best of both worlds. I'd remind myself that grades are not everything; college is about learning, not an empty letter grade. Knowledge in and of itself is worth its weight in gold. I'd encourage myself to improve my time management skills. Most importantly, I think I would tell myself to learn as much as possible and never take education for granted.

Dear Ashley, You are such a strong person, and you have great morals! Don't let others define who you are, and if someone tries to influence you in a way that isn't how you usually are, then step back and reevaluate the situation. You are going to college to get an education, and friends/socializing are just a by-product of attending such a wonderful university. But don't forget to relax and have fun! Get involved, stay healthy, and be true to yourself. Love, Your future self