Purdue University-Main Campus Top Questions

Procrastination has been my weakness while in college. I always finish all of my work but many times I am up all night the night before it is due to finish it. I would tell my high school self to maintain a schedule that sets time aside each day or week for school work. I would also give myself advice with regards to social skills. I would tell myself to not be shy around people I do not know, but instead, get to know many other people from different backgrounds. I would also tell myself to make sure not to stop believing in myself. I have overcome many personal and academic obstacles and I have learned it is just part of life.

I would tell myself as a high school senior to listen to my heart. I would reassure them that no one's opinion should out weigh your own because in the end you have to live with the consequences. If something is important to you, no one should influence your decisions away from your own morals. I would tell myself to make my own decisions and voice my opinions more often. These are things I learned when I got to college. I realized people aren't who you think they are and the most important thing is that you are happy. Nothing should prevent you from following your own dreams especially when you know your parents are going to support you through everything.

College is a place to experiment, dive into new situations, and expand the mind. Stepping onto campus for the first time can be daunting, but you should embrace the feeling. The fears, the excitement, the confusion, the sense of wonder, all accumulate into the realization that life is based on the actions you take and the hard work you put into it. Join as many clubs as you can. Take the dance classes your two left feet wouldn’t let you walk toward. Explore nature with the outing club. Let your breathe escape you as you witness how perfect the unrefined wilderness can be. Become a leader and a good role model for those that look up to you. Give back to your community and volunteer whenever you have the chance. Don’t forget about your academics. Attend workshops and business expos to familiarize yourself with job opportunities. Talk with as many professors as you can to gain research experience, and build your professional network. There’s no doubt that you’ll make great friends that’ll stick with you and encourage you throughout your four or more years. You have the potential to be great; take advantage of it.

You are talented. You are smart. You are strong. You have a voice. You are one of a kind. Being accepted by the popular group of kids is not the main goal of high school. Underage drinking and drug use does not make you cool. Having the hottest date to prom will not matter in three years. Enjoying school and excelling in your studies does not make you a geek, a nerd, or weird. Embrace who you are. Take the time to find your true passions and pursue what actually makes you happy. Do not let others define who you are as a person. Be joyful. Remember, life is short. Accept your best effort even when it sometimes does not produce the desired result. Reach out to others and find the support you need. You are a passionate person. You have the ability to change the world. Embrace that challenge and be excited about the differences you can bring to the people around you.

Traveling back to highschool to talk to my former self would be a painful and embarracing event. There is so much that I know now that I wish I knew then. It seems like just yesterday was senior year in high school. The year and a half I have been at college has flown by. The first thing I would tell my former self would be to come prepared. The first semester being in college is very stressful and can be easily be made more stressful if you don't have what you need. The first few weeks should be a time for making friends, learning the campus and settling into your courses, not gathering what you forgot. There will be plenty of free time, and so I would tell my former self not to get too relaxed in the free time. It is easy to overlook work that needs to be done when you have days to do it. Another thing I wish my former high shool self would have known was how awesome clubs and organizations are. They let you network and make friends, can provide a break from studying and also look amazing on your resume.

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER AN ACADEMICALLY RIGOROUS LIFE. I would give this warning to myself as a high school senior. When I entered college I thought that it would be good for my GPA to retake math that I had taken in high school and did not receive AP credit for. This was a huge mistake as not only was I bored in Calculus 1, I was also not doing well because math in college is significantly more difficult than in high school even if you had already learned the material. Retaking both Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 after taking Calculus BC in high school was a mistake that hurt my GPA significantly as well as delayed progress in proceeding through math, making scheduling a little more difficult. The biggest lesson that I would hope to tell myself as a high school senior is to obtain as much college credit in high school as possible because it makes college life a lot more manageable dealing with fewer difficult classes. I wish I had a loud all caps message warning me about how to prepare for significantly more challenging academics.

To my high school self: Talk to your principal… there needs to be a real positive influence to look into college, scholarships, and preparation. Choose to take math your senior year, you would have made a much smoother transition into calculus the following year. It is never too early to look into to internship opportunity’s as they are not easily obtained. Also if you would have sought help for you learning disability sooner your academic performance would be much higher. Also look into different clubs you can get involved in there are a ton of great ones out there. Oh and another thing college is so different in so many ways then High school or anything else you might have experienced, but if there is one thing you should know it’s that once you in a college you hold a lot of power over what you do with your there form organizations and participating in things you normally wouldn't. Go in with the mindset that you can leave a mark there! One last thing establish friendships whit your professors early on... I mean hell you guys have common interests, and they are there to help you.

If I could go back in time and give my senior self advice for the upcoming year, it would be "Don't be so stubborn." This was something I learned the hard way. I applied to only Johnson and Wales. It had been my dream school for as long as I could remember. I got accepted to Johnson and Wales in Providence RI and was head over heels about it. I had applied for many scholarships, but no one seemed to wanted to help. My parents ended up paying for the first month of school. We tried to find scholarships and loans that would cover the rest of the tution but sadly, no one was able to help. So I went to school for a month in RI, learn a ton and had to come back home. It was horrible. I believed that if I hadn't been so stubborn or dead set on the school, I would have been better off when I came home.

I would tell myself to apply for as many scholarships and grants as possible. When filling out the fafsa if i wanted to stay on campus be sure to say that in the fafsa application. Try and make friends dont hide from everyone. Do your best, don't procrastinate because this is the worse thing you can do. Make sure you do all your work because your college gpa is going to greatly influence if you can get certain scholarships.

My family slowly lost our house from late 2008 to early 2011. My parents kept me in the loop because if something happened, they didn't want it to be some horrible surprise. It was undoubtedly the hardest time of my life, and it affected every single aspect of my life. I became a different person with some changes being for the better and some for the worse. The thing is that everyone told me to relax, but I couldn't listen. I was extremely worried about what was going to happen. If I could go back in time I would tell myself this: "With everything you've gone through, I know you feel like you've lived a thousand years. But things will get better. You're parents are happier than they have ever been. Your sister just took an amazing job offer. There is light at the end of the tunnel. In due time, you will realize everything happened for a reason. You just have to wait a little longer. And remember, "If youre going through hell, keep going."" Winston Churchill said that last part. He has to be one of the smartest men to ever live.