Santa Monica College Top Questions

i would tell myself to focus more on my studies instead of friends. and to pick people who do equally the work so that the work overload and close due dates will not fustrate me that much.

If I could talk to my High School self, the first thing I would tell her would be to take risks. In the very beginning of my college career, I was afraid to do things that I assumed I would be bad at. For example, I love ballet but was too afraid to take a class because I didn't want the other dancers to judge me. Or I didn't take film classes because I didn't know enough about film. I'm just now discovering my mistake in being to shy to try new things. I would also tell myself to plan ahead and ask for help because I could have transferred earlier if I had payed attention and known who to talk to. Junior college is all about figuring out what you want to do and transferring to a college of your choice. I wish to Transfer to Long Beach in the fall. Had I been more willing to ask questions and get organized, I could have accomplished this a lot sooner.

The advice I would give myself if I would go back in time would be to be very focused. I would want to tell myself that college isn't all about fun and games and all of that should come after college. Also that the work you hand in is a whole lot more valuable then the work you did in high school. All professors each grade you differently and have their own take on grading your work and seeing what is more important in their class. Not every professor is going to come to you and tell you if you missed an assignment or that you are on the border of failing their class. That not every professor will ask if you understood everything they just went over. But that in case, for every professor you have, go to them at the end of every class you have with them to ask if you missed anything, how many absents you have, or how to do what they just asked you to. If you show them you care about your classes, they will make the effort to care more about you and take you more seriously the other students. Thanks

I've gone through a whole lot during my college years. Being the first in my family to attend college, my parents urged me to move from Hawaii to California to pursue a good education. Having roommates who did drugs and partied constantly was something that I thick about through this day. Suddenly independent and seeped in a drug infested environment, I became a person who habitually partied and did not care about school. I was going through the traditional college clich? of ?discovering? myself, but instead I stumbled across a new norm in a new society where partying was expected. During my 1st year in college I thought through my actions and witness my life of brokenness. While struggling in college with a cumulative GPA of a measley 2.9 I found myself afraid of the person I was becoming. But from encouraging friends who I've met from a local church I started changing my behavior for the better. So if I had the opportunity to go back in time I would have done more research on the people who I was living with instead of randomly picking roommates.

if I could go back in time and talk to myself when I was a highschool senior, I would tell myself to breathe. Id be honest and say "i know senior year is very stressful, college will be the same way, but hold on, keep breathing, help is coming." Id tell myself "the transition to college is scary but empowering at the same time, the independence is bittersweet but its all about the journey of growing up and learning about who you are as a person and how you react to change." "things never stay the same." will be a difficult lesson to learn but it is pivitol, so when I have hard times just hang on, change is coming, but also when I feel like Im free-flying through life, something can always upset that balance. But all in all dont be a perfectionist or beat yourself up when things dont go as planned, because there is no way one can reach perfection until one accepts all aspects of life.

Do not allow anything to come in the way of going to college full-time. Apply for financial aid and scholarships. Set aside time every day to do your homework. Do not procrastinate on assignments spend time to complete them early. With hard work you can earn a 4.0 GPA. Knowing when to stop working on an assignment is also important. The assignment does not have to be perfect in order to earn an A. Keep a schedule of when assignments are due and have them completed one day early. Find balance in your life between school and extracurricular activities. The key to success in college is time management and hard work.

Spend more time during senior year learning to think critically and asking questions in class. Use any opportunity you have to talk with teachers about how to improve your study skills. Read some of those books that you always meant to read---they may be assigned in your first college English class. Save information your senior counselor handed out about scholarships and other financial aid. It will help you later when you are looking to find other sources of aid because college is much more expensive than you thought. Visit the college before school starts and find out where the classrooms, bookstore, financial aid office, etc are located. The first week of school will be crazy and even a map may not help much. Talk with parents about how to handle the daily chores of life, like laundry, banking, car insurance and easy meals. Get the name of car mechanic and best places to find bargains. Spend time with your friends. No matter what you promise, once college begins, you won't have much time to spend with one another.

Immediately recognizing the importance of resources available on campus including the dozens of faculty members who would go out of their way to help a driven student. During my time in school, I constantly hear of students who have participated in amazing "life changing" programs, sometimes beneficial to their career goals. I was fortunate enough to catch some of these programs or events, but they were insignificant compared to those I had missed. I attribute my lack of participation in such life changing events to my unwillingness to research and hunt. Returning to the year 2006, I would stress how crucial and benefical it is to search for programs such as the Guatemalan Project rather than wait for them to find me.

I would tell all high school students that college is another level from high school. They must be prepared and ready for challenge because the classes are much harder and quicker than high school classes. There is lots of reading, homework assignment, quizzes, and tests during one semester. I would tell the student to hold their personal activities until they know the how the college system work. I would tell them the rules about managing time, not to take easily on the homework assignments. For example, telling them that missing one week of homework is like missing one chapter of the book.

Be more discipline and stay focuesed. Do not get distracted by what's going o around you. Start on homework early even though time is not a factor. Enjoy college and don't make everything to difficult.