Towson University Top Questions

As a high school senior, I pictured college as the depiction often found in teenage movies. I knew it would be full of new experiences that would serve as a coming of age, but I undervalued much advice that was given to me. With hindsight as the best visionary, I would advise my seventeen year old self to be released from the social boundaries that teens create in high school. The transition from high school to college is the ultimate opportunity to reinvent oneself. I did not take maximum advantage of the chance to participate in quirky activities, create novel memories, or even form friendships with people very unlike myself. Juvenile social divisions by group no longer applied in college, and I didn’t realize this change until it was too late to benefit. I would urge my high school self to release the stress of trying to “fit in.” I would aim to reinvent myself year after year so that when graduation came around, I experienced many revisions of myself. I’d be able to choose the experiences that were best and apply them to my grown up personality. Diverse college experiences make the essence of who you are.

If i could give advice to my highschool self about college life and making the transistion I would let her know the two most important lessons I have learned. First, make your college experience one of indivudal growth and experience. I spent my first two years at Towson focused on staying with my highschool friends and missing out on great opportunities I found interesting for fear that my friends wouldnt think it was cool. I learned it was ok to be independent and go out on my own. And if those friends didnt like it I could find genuiwine friends that would. The second lesson I would tell my highschool self would be to fully enjoy the experience of going to college. There are so many things to do, see, and experience while in college. And it goes SOOO fast. To just live in the moment will be the best thing you can do and will be the memories you will share and cherish for the rest of your life. The lessons you learn (both good and bad) will be invaluable. Your paying a lot of money for this education. Better make it worth it!

I would have definitely gotten better grades and focused more in school. school should have been taken more seriosly, and I could have received more scholarships.

The advice I would give myself is to not procrastinate. I waited until now to start looking for scholarships and helpful resources to help pay for my education. If I could go back in time, I would start looking for scholarships in the beginning of my senior year and made sure I had money going into college. I would also tell myself to charish every moment I had with my family and closest friends. It really is true, you never know what you have until it is gone. I took advantage of my parents and I never spent time with them, but since the first day I moved out, I have found myself regretting my choice. I hope every high school senior takes the time to look for scholarships and grants, and I hope they all charish the people in their lives.

You're a senior in high school, and it seems like you are about to embark on a journey that might not end well. Do not panic. Your life is about to change for the better, so take advantage of all the opportunities available at school. Go to all the orientation events, even if you feel a little awkward being all alone with so many people. Start looking into study abroad now, because believe it or not, you're going to go to Oxford for your junior year! Go to office hours early in the semester--your professors will know who you are, and they will notice if you get a mediocre grade and don't come in to ask for help. Try everything--go to the new restaurants in town, join the campus clubs. Take in everything college has to offer, because you will never again be surrounded by so many diverse people, offering so many opportunities. You're working hard to go to college, so don't waste the chances it affords you. Don't worry so much; everyone else is as nervous as you. So jump in! Milk this opportunity for all its worth!

Leah, I know you are stubborn. I know you going through a lot but you know what? NONE of that will matter. Ignore the bullies, ignore Dad and ignore everyone that is trying to bring you down. Do not give up on yourself. If you do, it will be a long and torturous ten years before you begin to get your life on track. The ONE thing that no one can take away from you is your education. That will be yours and your’s alone forever. Put your stubbornness to good use and get through this. You DO NOT want to be me and you do not want the life I have made for you. You can do better than this. No one took the time to tell you this, but did you know that you are smart and intelligent? You have talent that most people dream to have. It will not always be food stamps, loneliness and doubt. Stop letting life get you down because it is a hard task to get back on the horse. It will be worth it, trust me. Keep going and keep your head held high. Leah P.S. I love you.

I would tell my self to get involved with everything college has to offer on the very first day. Don't wait until a few weeks in because you will miss out.

One of the things I feel the most in my 30s was regret that I spent too much time focusing on activities that I thought were fun and not enough time focusing on school and career advancement. I got my only C in college b/c I was spending so much of my time traveling with the speech and debate team. I spent a few winters snowboarding rather than trying to find better career opportunities. I put off grad school to travel the country competing in swing dancing. But. Without those fleeting moments of chasing passions, I would have missed the opportunity to truly get to know myself. Without speech and debate, I would have never found my professional passion for event planning. And on the day that I got my grad school acceptance letter, I asked my best friend to marry me; and I wouldn’t know her if I decided to learn to dance. You can’t ignore the practical and the sensible. But you also can’t build a life and a career without passion. Good luck trying to balance both, because I can describe it, but you’ll need to learn it experientially.

I would tell myself to focus and stay positive. Anything worth having is worth sweat and tears. I would say this is no easy task but with a positive mind and faith and your belief in God, You will accomplish your goal.

Self, let me tell you something. Going to college for the first time is a bigger deal than you know right now! 30 years from now, you will be able to look back and see exactly what I am telling you right now is true! Give yourself a whole lot of preperation. Talk to your high school counslors and others who care and know what you do now. Make sure that you do your research, both about your own needs and desires, AND as they relate to the various schools that you may like to enter. Realize too, that the way you see and feel about things now, today, most likely will be a lot different from the way you will see and feel about things in your distant future. With that in mind, don't be afraid to move ahead with your present knowledge, and understanding of things, but don't forget to listen to the advice of others wiser and more mature in age than you right now. One last thing, try to be flexible, and learn to accept/forgive your own mistakes and those of others along the way!