The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Top Questions

While the location of your college is an important thing to consider, it is not the end all be all of college. Anywhere you go, you will make friends with like-minded individuals just as nervous about embarking on a new portion of your life. You should, however, really choose a school that you will be proud to go to. If you aren't excited about your college and your education, you will have a miserable time and face a lot of challenges in your upcoming four years.

You may be smart but grades don’t come easy in college like they did in High School. College depends on the workload you are willing to give. You may think that it’s okay to skip over a few things or slack every now and then, but each and every day you skip, homework miss, or attention not given will without a doubt result in your grade. It’s as simple and complicated as that. That’s the difference between college and High School, college doesn’t depend on your knowledge it depends on your commitment. You will learn way more than you think about yourself in college, so take every opportunity to experience new things, and most importantly, always remember to read a good book, meet wonderful people, and have amazing conversations.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I know exactly what I would say. I would tell myself that college is much harder than you expect but at the same time is a great experience. I would tell him to get up and go to every single class and study hard in order to maintain the GPA needed to keep his scholarships. Going through my first year of college I now know what i takes to be successful and I would warn him about the mistakes I made this past year, which were many. I would also tell myselef that there is no reason to be nervous. College will be great and you will meet so many new friends. I would tell him these next few years will bring so many great memories and new and exciting things. In short, I would tell myself that college is a blast but at the sametime to take school seriously.

I would tell myself that it is alright to not know what you want to be. High school is the time where people struggle to find out who they are, so how are they supposed to know what they want to do with their entire lives? Not many other people know, either. Everyone acts like they know everything and have a plan, but in reality that plan is just a hopeful guide. You get to college and are surrounded by all kinds of people and opportunities that you could never imagine. There are jobs and majors and classes that you have probably never even heard of. It is also fine to change your major. Lots of people do it, even Juniors and Seniors. So what if you have to stay for longer than four years? It happens. The world will not end, and no one will think any less of you. Try not to worry so much. Just be the best you can be, because that is all that anyone could ask for. They will still be proud, even if you decide to be an English major.

I grew up in the same town all of my life and when it came graduation, most kids stayed close to home and attended the University of Georgia. I didn't. I had always wanted to go away for college, just to get a new experience, and that is how I ended up at the University of Tennessee. If I were to go back and talk to my senior self, I would tell myself that college itself is a whole new experience no matter where you go. College is what you make of it. I thought if I went to UGA it would be high school all over again so I pushed myself to go away. Little did I know how hard my first semester would be knowing absolutely no one at Tennessee. I wouldn't change my decision of coming to Tennessee for the world, I love it now, but I would want myself to understand how big of a decision it is to move away from everything I knew and start over. I would want myself to appreciate everything home had to offer because I can honestly say I miss the town I so badly wanted to leave.

Adriana, college life is a big change. While high school prepares you for college academically, there are just some things left out. Before getting into that, hit the books, they are not going to hit themselves. What you are learning now is going to follow you into college. I know you dislike writing essays in English, but you are going to write about one essay per class every semester and your practice now will help you. On the topic of help, when you get to college some classes will be more difficult than others and there is nothing wrong with getting it. Afterall, you are there to learn, and if something does not make sesne, seeking help from peers, tutors, or the proffesors themselves demonstrates just how much you want to learn. Chemistry will start off not being your favorite class, but with tutoring, study groups, and asking your teacher for help, you will actually look forward to going to class, end up getting an A, and even get recommended as a tutor for the next semester! Finally, friends. You have different classes with up to 100 students at a time. While daunting at first, you cannot live without them.

Never give up. Be true to yourself. The people making fun of you now? They won't matter when you leave. You'll never see them again and they will have absolutely no influence on your life. Don't let them bring you down.

Study Philosophy. Don't study Physics or Chemistry or even Math because you are good at it. Study Philosophy because it will help you the most in life. Even if you don't graduate, which I didn't, it will help you learn the ideas in any new endeavour so you can succeed. Many people will tell you to study practical things--don't. You'll be able to make a good living learning things quickly later. But through all your upcoming hobbies, relationships, jobs, and lifestyles having learned many different way to think about how the world and people work will benefit you the most. When you find the career best suited for you, you can learn it when the time comes. Until then, keep building all the various skills you are interested in. If you do this, none of your time will be wasted. This goes for extracirricular activities just as well. In particular, the time you waste playing with computers will be your best career in the future.

The one advice I would give myself if I could go back in time is to perservere. High School is just a little taste of what college will be like, but it is not the real thing. College can be overwhelming and difficult; however, you have to fight through it. You cannot always rely on someone to help you or give you advice when you need it. You have to make the best decision you can. If that decision is wrong, own up to your mistakes and learn from them. You are strong in enough to overcome any challenges that awaits you. Just be the best you can be and perservere.

Stop what you are doing right now and listen! What you “know” at this very moment is extremely minimal to what the reality of the world is. The party this weekend is definitely not in your best interest, it will in fact do more bad than good. It is highly probable that you will no longer be acquaintances with three-fourths of the friends you have now. Getting in the same trouble as your friends does not make you a better friend, it makes you more lose who you truly are to be more like another person. Furthermore a true friend will not ridicule you for deciding to study on the weekend, nor will they be ashamed that you are an avid school band member. So do not, and i repeat do not waste your talent and quit playing the instrument you spent hours on end practicing. Hold dearly onto your morals. Listen to your mom, she has sacrificed so much to give you everything you need, completely on her own. You are smarter than you think, you will be an honor roll student in college and you will get into the college of your choice to pursue your goals.