The University of Texas at El Paso Top Questions

The advice I would give myself as a senior in High School if I could go back in time is to start the college process sooner. I didn't start the college process until I was a senior. My counselor told me that it would make everything easier on me if I applied for college the end of my junior year and also began applying for scholarships but I procrastinated until the middle of my senior year. By waiting, it made the process a little difficult for me. In waiting so long, I didn't get the classes I needed for my first semester of college and its made it a bit harder for me to try and accomplish my goal of graduating with my AA in a year and a half. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to start the process sooner and not to worry about the transition if I do so. Things will be much easier and smoother.

I would begin to tell myself to enjoy life a little bit more because reality hits hard when you get to college. I would tell myself to appreciate the teachers that care about you and do not hate them if they keep you for detention to do homework. In college your teachers will not be this willing to make sure you have a passing grade in the class. I would advise myself to go a take classes that would advance my college credit because college is not cheap. I would tell myself to think long and hard about what I want to do in the future so I can start college right. I would tell myself to do all this, but knowing how stubborn I am I would probably ignore my own advice. No matter how I could change the past I know in the end I probably would not have changed any of it because I might not be where I am today.

When I was in High School, I was hungry for life; I wanted to do everything as fast as I could, so that I could finish school earlier. It didn’t matter to me if that meant I was going to have bad grades, “as long as I pass” I would say, it didn’t matter if I didn’t have enough time to sleep, I didn’t care about having friends, or even having time to myself; I wanted to get it over with. I graduated one year early from High School, while having a full-time job. I can honestly say that I did not need either that one year or the money I was making working that much. Now that I am working just part-time and enjoying studying and spending time with my friends, I realize how precious time is, and how life has everything ready for us. If I could advise my past self, I would tell myself to relax and live life as it comes, I would tell me to enjoy my friends, to enjoy my family, to enjoy school, and even more so, to enjoy that senior year I never had.

I would tell myself not to take the time that I spent with my friends and family for granted. Everything changes so fast, but don't dwell on the past, it will only bring you down and hurt you in the long run. Keep your head up, you're stronger than you think.

Time is as precious as a shiny diamond, each second counts even when it seems as a waste of time. High school teachers are very wise, and they care very much to see us succeed, so go on, be an explorer and ask questions. The next four years of your life will be fun, there will be a lot of activities to join, but don't forget the most important activity of all is give each class the appropriate time it deserves, some classes will need more time than others, so always carry a calendar with you, it will help to improve your organization skills, so you can allow yourself to have some fun, and to stay on top of all your tasks too. Learning some independence will never hurt. Once you leave for college, There are a lot of things you must do on your own, teach yourself how to manage life with the resources you have, make a budget at the beginning of each month before you start spending money and always save some for emergencies.

If I could go back to 1987 when I was a senior in high school I would do much more than listen to music and play basketball. Although I still enjoy punk rock from that era, I think I would tell myself that the music will still be there when I finish college. I did not spend enough time taking college prep classes when I was a senior. I guess I thought that just going to college would be enough. I learned the hard way that in order to carve out a place in this world you must have some focus about what you plan to study and how you plan to use your knowledge. Had I known then what I do now, I would have told myself to really think about my college prep classes and choose a major that I could do something with in my future. As it stands, I am attending college for the second time with hopes of a new career. I believe that if I had questioned myself while I was a senior in high school about my plans for the future I would have skipped my history major and gone straight into nursing.

I would tell myself to work harder as a senior to get scholarships to pay for college. Never give up or think its too hard to apply or too difficult to win. Also to keep working hard entering colloge because its way different than high school.

Knowing what I know now about college life, the advice that I would give myself would be to take as many classes as possible of areas that I may be interested in majoring on my first year in college to more quickly have narrowed down my area of study, instead of wasting my time on classes that I didn't need. I would have joined more organizations to find even more areas that would interest me for my major and to create more ideas for my career path. Also, I would have applied to more scholarships, especially because I did graduate in the top ten percent of my class, I should have taken the opportunities offered with those qualifications. Finally, I would have gone to as many events and activities offered at UTEP, which serve as great stress relievers, fun learning experiences, and networking possibilities.

If I could be a senior one more time, I would tell myself to be more involved in community survice. It is very hard for me to win scholarships compared to those who have a better resume;mostly because they have hours involved with helping the community. I am in need of money for college and I feel that not having to do cumminity service hours has hold me back from winning scholarships. As a member of the middle class I am not getting the money that I need to pay for college. The wealthy class have the money to pay for college and the lower class are getting financial help from different institutions. I think that if I were to have applyed myself to have a better resume when applying for scholarships, I would of had the money to have gone to a better school instead of a community college.

To highschool me: The best advice I can give you is to have a plan. Know in what dirrection you want your life to go. Do the research find what is needed. It is ok if you are unsure or dont quite know but at least have an idea. Myabe not I want to be an MD/PhD Neurosurgeon but perhaps I would maybe like something in the health care maybe nurse maybe doctor and go from there. Never procrastinate any decition and take any opportunity. Every expeience you have will change your life so take advatage of everything comming your way. Always have a plan A a strong solid plan A and stick to it as much as possible. Just never forget to do a plan B, C, D... basically one for every letter in the alphabet. All plans are flexible and most importanly remember the best plans of mice and men often go astray. The only thing you should plan and not break it is to be independent. You are becoming your own adult so find the way you will provide for your self; food, clothes, utilities, toliet paper, if you're sick and all the money needed.