Southern New Hampshire University Top Questions

I always wanted to go to college. However, as a high school senior, I was incredibly shy and reserved. My passion at that time was horses. I had also spent my high school years being raised by my father. Today I am forty-six, I have raised three children (mostly as a single parent), I am a disabled Army veteran, and I am a confident woman. Would I change anything? No. The only advice I might give myself is to keep my positive attitude and be strong. Everything will work itself out in the end. Considering that I loved school - and still do - I would have done well in college.

I would tell myself to go for the goal of going to college. I waited too long to achieve this goal. I was worried about family life, money, work, and having time for myself. Every aspect of is very workable with daily life. I would tell myself that it is okay to be scared and there are ways and people that can make the education happen. Family are willing to help you study, taking online classes are doable with work, you can work at your own pace, there is no travel, and you can save on gas and lodging. Any goal is reachable if you are willing to work for them.

Knowing what I know now about college I would tell my self to work really hard and complete my degree program. I wish I wouldn't have stopped when I received my associates If I would of known then after two year graduation I would of worked hard and kept on going to complete just two more years for my bachlors degree. Having that extra education means so much in my career field, I regret not finishing 10 years ago. I have been taking online classes and it has been working out great for me so I would recomend it because I find it really easy for me to learn this way.

I love this school but I wish that I was able to make more friends in my major. It's still really hard for me to make friends in my major, but as a junior, I am starting to make them. I would have reminded myself to find a job my freshman year. After that year, I no longer had work study and I was unable to get it back and the school would really like to higher people with work study. Also, I would have said to do more scholarships because school expensive and now I am thinking about what I want to do when I graduate and that may involve going to graduate school or even law school which will be very expensive.

If I could go back in time as a high school senior and give myself advice, I wouldn’t. I know that sounds crazy to say but I worked extremely hard to achieve the goals I did. I strongly believe that what we go through in our everyday lives whether it was yesterday, today, or a year ago, everything we go through makes us who we are today. When I was a senior in high school I played varsity sports, I was in multiple extracurricular clubs, I studied very hard for the grades I achieved, and I even got a head start on college and went to college while enrolled as a senior in high school. The only thing I could think of for advice to give myself is to embrace every moment, because one day you will blink and question where all of the time went. Word Count: 147

Dear little Kristen, I know you are worried that you may not have the skills you need to make it in your chosen career. I know you are scared that you will not fit in at college. Let me reassure you my friend. You have chosen the PERFECT school for you. You are about to enter the "land of the go-getters." It will be intimidating at first but darling NEVER FEAR YOUR PASSION. STRIVE. Here will be all the resources you need and all the connections you want to ensure your future. You will have the chance to create your own club with whatever interests you have. The people here are all wonderfully different and you will meet fabulously diverse people that you will connect with. Remember that fear you had about not meeting any friends outside your major? THROW that out the window. You have all of your general education classes with people from ALL majors and get the chance to meet AMAZING people. However, a word of caution, you are entering a private university which means there will be money to pay. Lots of it. Save up my dear. (their financial aid helps) Sincerely, The older you

For as much as I do like college, my advice to my younger self would to be to figure life out first before starting college. I started college far too early and it did me no good. A lot of my bad habits from high school carried over into this first year and ruined my GPA (which I am in the process of repairing). On top of that, I went back and forth on what I wanted to do. It took a couple of years to switch to a degree that would actually be practical and good for me. I would tell myself first to wait on school and work first, gain some skills, and know what I want to do, perhaps get a degree that I would actually want. Hopefully, by doing that, I could be rid of those nasty habits before I start proper.

I would tell my high school self not to rush into college. There is so much of a stigma associated with diving into college right out of high school and you don't even know what you really want to do. Take time for yourself, work a little bit, travel if you can. Do different jobs, volunteer...live. Once you figure out what you think you really want to do, then go for it. You know you are someone who changes their mind quickly and often, so don't make a committment as expensive as college until you are sure you are making the right choice.

I would tell myself to learn how to manage time wisely. For me, it has been very important to manage my time is such a way that Iallows me to do well in my classes while also continuing to volunteer at my church, high school, and other areas of the community. I would also tell myself that it is important to not only do well in high school classes, but also to pay attention and learn the material. Taking high school seriously allows students to be prepared for the material that college professors present. The material that students learn in high school is a valueable knowledge base for college so the more students know, so the better off they will be. I would also tell myself to continue learning good study habits. Some college classes are harder than others and they will requre a little more work, especially if the student is not particularly gifted in the subject. It is crucial to know how to work through these kinds of classes in order to gain every possible advantage. These things would have helped my tremendously during my senior year of high school.

Apply for those scholarships, they will be the difference between eating ramen for a semester and having some real food. Remember all those times you said you'd never use those math classes? Well, you're about to use them. Be careful, you're going to find out that you were held by the hand, spoon fed and led by the nose all through high school, even if it didn't seem like it. Out here in the real world, none of that is going to happen, you've got to make yourself go to class, do the studying, take the tests. Don't party so much, don't put things off until the last minute, yeah it's fun but it's not the right time. It's time to buckle down and enter the real world. Take the hard classes! Do the weird projects! Throw yourself into headlong and go for more! Do it while you can, because once college is over, it's over. It will never be the same again. Enjoy your time in college. Make friends, have fun, but make sure to take advantage of the opportunities that will be coming soon.