Norfolk State University Top Questions

I would tell myself to take my classes more serious, and within everything i do , give one hundred and ten percent.

"Tanesha, please stay in school and get focused!" I'd see a girl whose high school was not a glorious time filled with friends and extracurricular activities. There weren't too many great memories for her and school was not a place that she enjoyed being. However, I'd tell myself to push through it because a high school diploma would make college so much easier. Instead, I aquired a GED and would have loved to tell myself to have joined organizations, made lifelong friends, and spoke to teachers and counselors who could help me prosper in school and feel like a contributing member of the school. It would have given me the confidence needed to continue I have made it to college now, but due to my past struggles, attending is tough and if I knew in the past how difficult it would be, I would have certainly my own advice.

If I could go back to high school and talk to myself, now knowing what life after high school and life essentilally have to offer, I would tell myself to be more aware. I would not have partied as hard as I did in my late teen and early twenties. I would have been more financially mindful. When I received refund checks from college for the most part I would pay bills because I always worked, had my own place, and cared for my children, but the remainder of the money I should have given back to the school or Department of Education so that I could have been done sooner and also to reduce those interest rates. I would tell myself: "Girl, do NOT get that credit card, because it will bite you later on because your just not that financially responsible yet, and lastly I would have told myself "You can do it" more often then I did. I went through spells of depression when life hit me, more so because I just was not prepared for what life had in store for me because of some poor decisions I made growing up.

The advice I would give myself is "Stay focused". Being a freshman in college, it is hard to keep focus of why you are really there because it's a lot of distractions that you're not used to having. As a freshman you want to meet lots of people, and you have this idea from watching college life on television that you will party a lot in college. You're away from your parents, and you want to do everything that you weren't allowed in high school; however, you can not lose sight of why you're there. High school to college is a huge transition, and the level of work is strenuous. Stay on top of your work, read ahead, visit your professors when you have questions, be diligent. Most importantly, put forth your best effort, because what you do in these 4 years will determine what you do for the rest of your life.

Honestly, I would advise myeslf to go to community college first to save money and then transfer to another school. I would tell myself that scholarships and financial advancements are key to proceeding in school. No matter what major you committ to, the struggle for money can be very worrying. I would also advise myself to apply for as many scholarships as i can before coming to any school. When it comes to Norfolk State, i would advise myself to meet as many people as i possible can before attending. Since the school is not too diverse, The seperation into specific groups isn't too severe so the opportunities to meet many people as possible.

Advice #1) Find something other than coffee that keeps you motivated and awake. It is a bad habit you will start developing and you will be battling it throughout your College time. Try gum, tea, yoga or meditation! Advice #2) Don’t fool yourself! You know that you will be making sacrifices, such as giving away lots of leisure- and “hanging out on the couch watching TV” - time. Don’t pretend that it will be easy. Of course, you will all figure it out, but know that you might be walking the streets like a zombie at times; especially if you are working full-time as well. Advice #3) It is always good to know that the bookstore is not the only source to get your class materials from. There are many cheaper resources, such as Amazon. These will make your life a little bit easier and could prevent you from eating PBJ-sandwiches for a week, because you have no money left for any other foods! Advice #4) Know that instructors and faculty members are usually here to help you. Give them a chance. They don’t have to be your enemies. Advice #5) Do it all over again!

I would tell myself to stay focus and get more involved in campus activties. I came into college expecting it to be like high school so I slacked a little and it showed when I recieved my mid-term grades, and that is when I began to buckle down. When I was in high school I was so use to the similar work for all four years of high school that I took it for granted and thought it was going to be that easy. Another thing is I should became more involved in campus activties, because I was not involved in any activities in high school. It is not to late so come this year I am going to become more active in my community and student life on campus. That is some advice I would give myself.

I believe that everything in my life happens for a reason; every obstacle, every betrayal, and every mistake is strategically placed at certain times in my life to make me a stronger person. All mistakes are lessons learned and all lessons learned will be used to build a bridge towards my definition of success. If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t tell my old self anything. This may alter my present life and disrupt my achievements and happiness. Instead of using the time machine for myself, I would use that technology to save lives. I would go back and tell my volleyball teammate not to commit suicide. I would tell her that it’s not worth it and that people love her. I would tell the nice girl who rode my bus that she shouldn’t go over her dad’s house for Thanksgiving, because that would be the last Thanksgiving she would have. Life is precious, and if I did choose to tell myself anything during that time in the past, I would whisper to myself, “Don’t take life for granted.”

Hey Michaela, So I hear you are in need of some advice; well here it is. You are going to fail! Yes i said fail, and it's ok because failure is the oppurtunity to begin again more intelligently. The beauty of college is the reality of it. You are about to embark on a four year expedition. You're in control, so screw the rules and live! I would love to give you some cliche' advice, but you've heard enough of that already. So I will leave you with some wise words from J.K. Rowling,"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might has well not have lived at all, in which you have failed by default." You've made it this far kid, the best is yet to come. Dont fail by default, LIVE!

The advice that I would give myself would be to concentrate more to get better grades and to spend the time researching for college scholarships. I would also tell myself that student loans are not the route to take.