Northwestern University Top Questions

My transition from high school to college was difficult. I allowed my fears of failure and anxiety about the future to get the best of me. I struggled with the rigorous pace of coursework during my freshman and sophomore years. As a lifelong Girl Scout, I never give up and am not afraid to ask for help. As I adjusted to the workload and began taking courses more aligned with my interdisciplinary interests, my passion grew and my grades improved. My perseverance, preparation, and confidence allowed me to succeed during my senior year and get into a great graduate school. Knowing what I know now, the advice I would give my high school self would be to relax and stay confident. I am smarter than I give myself credit for and it is easy to forget that when I spend most of my time in classes surrounded by incredibly intelligent individuals. Additionally, I sometimes get distracted by the overwhelming nature of the courses and forget to live my life. I would tell myself to remember to hang out with friends and watch a movie once in a while, because spending all of your time studying just leads to more stress.

College, as succinctly as possibly, has been a humbling experience. It was not exactly what I had imagined it to be, but ultimately, this is a good thing. Before journeying to the campus that I would spend 4 of the most important years of my life at, I had pictured myself with endless time at my disposal to work hard in my classes, participate in campus activities, hang out with friends, and take care of my personal needs. For the most part, I was able to do this. But it was challenging. My experience at college led me to understand that I had to truly learn about myself before I could acknowledge how I wanted to live my life. I'm fortunate that I was able to find an optimal balance in my life, but I've witnessed others who have struggled mightily. My advice to my high school self, as well as anyone transitioning to college, would be this: These are your formative years. The ones that will define who you are. So don't fill them with experiences that you may one day regret. Fill them with ones that you will cherish and grow from.

Come into school with an open mind. Sure, it's absolutely fantastic to start your freshman year knowing you want to have a particular career and participate in particular clubs, and you should definitely do everything you can to reach your goals. However, don't let your goals limit your college experience. There are so many different opportunities at college to make new friends, join extracurriculars and intramural clubs, and take a variety of classes - be open to trying out something that you may have never thought to try before. It'll help you to grow as a person and enlighten you as to who you really are and even provide different perspectives that may be useful in reaching your ultimate goals.

NothingI exploredI messed upI learnedIf I changeOr offered adviceWhat would be missedWhat is worth the lossLoss of self made experienceLoss of who I am nowLoss of my then and future selfI'll take the riskI'll take the painI'll take the joyI'll take it allBecause it's mineNo hindsightNo 20/20Just me

Going back in time to talk to my self as a high school senior I would give my self some good adivce. I would advise my self to go to class everyday so that I am already in the process of going to school when needed. In college you have to attend school everyday your signed up to go if not its going to be a waste of money. Other advise is that picking a college is a difficult task and I would have advised my self to make a wise choice my senior year so I knew what I was going to do and where I was going to go. More advice Id give my self is that a big huge transition is doing everything on your own. You do not have professors telling you, you have a second opportunity to do your homework or test. My final advice I would give to my self as a senior student is to work my hardest to get my best grades possible. It truly does effect you when going into college because they do look at your grades.

Looking back to when I was a high school senior, I would get more involved in my college application process. I would also advocated for schools to have a program to help students start the application process for college applications and scholorships. A program that would provide a mentor to students that would like to continue their education, but need the guidance. The college application process was very confusing when I was applying, there weren't enough workshops to educate students about financial aid and the procedure to applying to college. I would tell my younger self, not to take any breaks between high school and college, to go directly to school.

Yikes. Thats a toughy. I would honestly say that incoming freshmen shouldn't worry about all the little things before coming up. You'll learn the game soon enough. That is what freshman year is all about. Chill out and enjoy the summer before you come up to this fabulous place. Everything will be alright.

If my high school self would hear my advice, I'd tell her to learn how to study. The differences between high school and college are huge and I would let myself know that college is, in some ways, just like it is in the movies. I would tell myself to relax and not worry about making friends because somehow those relationships have a way of falling into place. I'd tell myself that orientation week and the first month of school are definitely the worst times of the entire college experience, hands down. Finally, I'd let myself know that while it's perfectly fine to come to college with a major in mind, it's important to listen to advisors and upperclassmen to get different ideas for your future. That's what college is all about!

I would say Soneni, time is of the essence, you are marching on and you must be prepared! There are great opportunities and no matter what, you must take advantage of all of the resources that are available to you! Choose your college, friends and associates wisely! leave all negativity behind! You are walking into a future that you are creating for yourself and it will no doubt be tough but do not lose heart ! the future is greater than the moment!! make the best of all your experiences good or not so good and most of all keep God in your life and keep pressing on until you reach your destiny!

If I was granted one wish, it would be to go back to high school and to talk to myself as a high school student. When I was in high school, I did not see the point of studying what I considered to be unrelated to life. Now that I am in college, I realize that you can apply anything you learn outside of the class. Therefore, if I could go back high school I would tell myself to think more optimistically and keep an open mind. Not only would I tell myself to think more optimistically; I would also tell myself that there is no point in continuing to stress about things that will make little to no difference in the long run. The last but not least important piece of advice I would give myself, would be to seek help as soon as I felt that something was wrong. I would tell myself to listen to my gut feeling and to help myself before a problem becomes severe.