Mt Hood Community College Top Questions

I graduated in the year 2000. I didn't know if I wanted to go to school, or If I wanted to hang out and work and be with friends without the structure of school. I chose the former, and for ten long years I lived and learned but my life didn't go anywhere and eventually I felt it might be enough to be a server and give up my dreams of being something better. I almost did that but tradedy struck and when my world righted itself I was alone and I didn't know what to do with myself. So I decided that it was time to make progress in my life and I filled out an application online. I'll complete my second term in march, and I plan on going for a Bachelors in Sociology. If I were to give advice to myself, I would say, "You may wait until your ready, but It'll be easy once you start. Trust your potential."

If I could go back and give myself a pep talk about college I would say this: Turn your cell phone off! The thing that has helped me the most so far is cutting out distractions so I can study and learn in the best environment possible. College is much more than just a social hub. It is a place for you to find out who you are and what you will do with the rest of your life. If I have distractions, like cell phones, holding me down, then I can easily be sidetracked from finding out my calling in life. I would tell myself to take advantage of getting dual credit so there is less to pay for in college. God speed, Jason, and just remember to put that cell phone on silent.

The advice that I would give myself would be to take it slow and not worry about graduating so early. Taking the time to actually have a senior year will help you a lot and you will grow in ways that will help you prepare for what you have to face in college. Work on your procrastination, don't let it get the best of you, because when you enter college, the teachers don't care if you complete your homework or if you are late. It all comes back to you. I know that you think that all of these "grown ups" have no idea what they are talking about, but please don't learn the hard way and make the same mistakes that they warned you not too. Most of all, have fun your senior year, but study hard because it will all pay off in the end.

Dear Marissa, College life will not be as easy as you thought it would be. In order to be successful you're going to have to reassess your priorities. The friends you have right now are going to leave and you will make new ones. What is really Important is your relationship with God. No one will ever be there to help you through as much as he will. It's going to be a hard 8 years but with God all things are possible. College life is stressful if you don't have good organizational skills so get yourself a daily planner and actually use it. You will save yourself a lot of greif by knowing what's going on and what needs to get done. Good luck on your journey. With high hopes for the future, Marissa

Well, first off I would tell myself to stay in high school and complete my senior year, even if you don't get to graduate with your class. Dropping out was the biggest mistake I ever made even though I completed my GED 2 years later. There is still a part of me that feels like there is a gap in my life that will neve be filled. Also, know what it is that you want to do with your life and what you want for your carreer. Even if you don't know right away, go to college and figure it out as you go. Make goals and strive to achieve them. Enjoy and experience the college life. It is in a way, like a right of passage that each person should experience. You become a much better and more well rounded person for it. Study, do your homework, attend class and work hard, make study groups. Study groups can turn into friends. Most of all, make the next few years count and the best you can make them be. You will be glad that you did.

If I were still in high school, I would have tried much harder in my general studies because they are all required as you decide a career. I would also try more things and engage myself in more activities to see what I like most and what is it that Im good at so that way, I would'nt have to wonder what I want to do with my life because I believe high school is a great place for that.

If I could go back in time and say something to myself about college, it wouldn't be so much a talk as me smacking myself in the back of the head. In high school I thought college would be a breeze because of certain factors, such as classes starting later, only having one or two classes a day, etc. Now that I've been here for awhile I've realized that kind of thinking was very immature. I would tell myself to stop being lazy and take some more math classes, instead of only taking what was required of me. I had to work very hard to bring my GPA back up to a 4.0 once I got to college because, academically, I wasn't prepared. I would probably also tell myself to keep the part time job, ask for more hours, and save up money because tuition wasn't my only worry, I had to plan for textbooks as well. I would tell myself about my $150 anthropology and psychology books and after my past self fainted and got back up, I'd end by simply telling myself to see the light of reality and get serious.

Meet with a counselor to find out exactly what the goal is and the classes you need to take. Start off slow with your classes for the first term. Get to know the college and how things work. Shoot for your dreams, it will be a challenge and hard but just remember if it were easy everyone would do it!! You can do anything you set your mind too.

Don't be afraid. College can be scary and alot of hard work but the results are well worth it and also, make sure to study and not blow it off thinking you are the "Ace" student. Nothing is that easy and the life outside of school in the workforce certainly isn't easy. Basically, anything worth having is worth working for and on. School is no different. Please do not wait until you are in your 40's, like myself, before deciding to return to school and "make something of yourself" because in many ways it is much harder BUT when you do go back to school, remember to follow your passions (and that doesn't mean sleeping , eating and watching TV all the time!) because when you follow your passions, you always do well because the interest in it is there and you are more driven to follow that passion then. Just like me and my passion for marketing and managing! BTW, GOOD LUCK!!

I would recommend that I take more time on homework and studying for tests in order to get top grades. It would also be importand that I utilize tutoring in difficult classes such as math and science, but especially in foreign language. I would emphasize to myself the need to excel in a foreign language. I believe now that I should work and goof off less and get involved with music and/or drama. It is also necessary to personal growth that I get more involved in helping people, whether it be a soup kitchen, visiting the elderly,etc. Sometimes seniors look at careers from a future salary standpoint, so would recommend taking some career counselling tests to get a better idea my strengths and interests, so I can have a career that is satisfying and rewarding in ways that are more substantial than just money. Finally, I would suggest taking some classes at the local community college to have a better idea of what college academic life is like.