University of Arizona Top Questions

The advice that I would give my Senior High School self would be this, "Luz, study hard and focus. Don't let the distractions get to you, cause there will be a lot of them and they will all be very tempting. Give yourself time between every task, but make sure you do each task to the best of your ability and that they are not rushed or sloppy. To prepare for the transition from high school to college, go to your college, Pima Community College, and the University of Arizona, and see where all your classes are, where your advisors offices are, and look around the school to get an idea of where things are. In doing this, you won't be so overwhelmed and you wil have an idea of how to get around. Don't expore your college at the last minute, go a month or less before classes start, so that you have time to take it all in. Most importantly, don't stress out about the size of the college, or the classes you signed up for, just pace yourself and you will do fine." This is the adive I would give my Senior Self.

I would tell myslef to hang on for the ride because the ideal vision of college that i had percieved in my mind is far different than i had ever imagined. I would tell myself to prepare for some financial hurdles along the way, and to establish a savings now that will positively impact my quality of living in the future. I would tell myself about the importance of working hard now in order to pay off later. It is hard to say what exactly how i would convince myself, aside from the fact that i would know it was future me in whom i was speeking to. I would let myself know the importance of proper diet and excersise habits, and who and who not to associate whith at any given time. I would educate myself on the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as how to withstand peer pressure which could negatively impact my school studies. I would tell myself to be confident, brave, and cautious; to be organized, professional, and respectful. And finally, i would tell myself to relax and expect some detours along the way, but never to be afraid to be myself.

For the first few weeks of college, you will lose complete control of your life, your future, and your desires. You will lose sense of who you are and you will begin to doubt your capabilities and success. You will wonder why you are where you are, and you will wonder about the places you are ultimately bound to go. Nevertheless, don't panic because you will recuperate from this. Although you will feel as though everyone has it all figured out while you're just floating around, not knowing your destination, that is not the case. Most of the people you meet do not have it figured out; you are not the only one who is lost inside your own mind. You have to find your inner-strength and think rationally about your future and desires. College opens new doors for you, but sadly, it also closes some. You will realize that hard work does not always pay off, and sometimes, that it is all about the people you meet and not about the things you learn. You will eventually realize that although life can be selfless and meaningful, there is also a harsh reality behind it.

Be prepared. These four years will make or break your entire life. You will be faced with happiness, sadness, guilt, and regret. This rush of emotions will not stop until you walk across that stage May 2014. You will be faced with challenges that you feel you will won't overcome, care for people that you know will never care for you back, and the feeling of accomplishment knowing that you did something productive and are preparing yourself for what lies ahead. College is something else and what you have experienced in high school is nothing to what you will come across during your first semester. But understand that this is what is so great about your experience. You learn from your mistakes, you grow overtime, and you learn who you really are and what you want in life. And hey, you even meet a girl. Lastly, keep an open-mind. Love, live laugh every day that you are there because once it is over, you will only have the memories of what you did during those four years, NOT what you didn't do.

Simple, start scholarships earlier and get off the couch. My biggest problem in college is not having any money because I hardly get any money from federal financial aide and my parents have no money to help me with my tuition. So, I would keep reminding myself that scholarships are not just handed out like flyers, they have to be earned. Earning a scholarship can be easy by maintaining good greats and applying to as many as possible. I would have had such an easier transition into college if i had receieved more scholarships.

I would go back in time and tell my younger self to start reading. To throw away the TV and learn. After attending college and reading much more than I had in high school i began to enjoy learning about the world through the lens of other people. To start questioning what our brains are actually doing when neurons fire and how to read that and react. Reading keeps my mind at peace, and that is what i needed coming out of high school. The American college experience is all about novel experiences and novel problems, and understanding how my emotions worked in these situations would have saved me a vast amount of effort. I would have taught myself to try to find the blessings in the misfortunate, because even if we desperately want to believe there was meaning in an action, there probably was not.

If I were to go back to high school as a senior I would make sure to teach myself to not procrastinate because before I know it I will be stressed with the overload of work I left myself for one night. Discipline is key in order to become successful in all the courses. Discipline can be hard to get a hang of so I would start off my senior year by organizing my work and determining how to space out my work. The biggest advice I would give myself is,"No matter how easy a class or the material may be, always take the time to study for it because you are human, and it is common to forget the small details that can affect your test score". To feel less stressed out in college I would tell myself to apply to every scholarship that I am eligible so I do not have to worry about loans in the future. I would repeatedly remind myself that all the hard work will pay off in the long-run and remember to enjoy every second of the roller-coaster ride called college.

I would definitely tell my younger self to not be lazy and apply for as many scholarships that I could so that they could be more financially stable. I would tell them to make sure they apply for everything they could and to stay up on their classes. I would also probably tell them to wait to move into an apartment until after sophomore year, even though it is cheaper already it will not help with keeping grades up. I will also tell them to go to tutoring even though it seems like they won't help when they really do. Looking back, I did not realize that college would be so much more than I thought it was and I wish that someone would have prepared me more for it.

I would tell myself to apply for as many scholarships as possible all throughout summer and even during school because there are so many unexpected expenses that come up. I would also tell myself not to underestimate the importance of time management. Make time for sleep, laundry, and homework before going out. I think the best advice I could give myself is to not be afraid to join clubs and talk to other people because especially the first couple weeks, everyone is trying to find new friends. That's one thing I regret about my freshman year of college - not getting involved. I think I could have made so many more friends and even learned more things about myself but instead I felt shy and even a little insecure throughout the school year. The most important thing along with education is to discover new things and to grow as a person.

I look back and even though I had an amazing for years of high school, I wish I couldve been involved in more. My senior year I had only two classes and part time job so it would've been really for me to join a couple extra clubs. I wish I would've done this one so I could've done everything my senior year and to build up my resume more. Yes, I went to a lot of school events but I wish I would've participated in creating them or going to more competitions for different clubs than the one I was in. I also didn't go to a lot of games because I went to so many throughout the years I thought I was tired of it, but I was wrong. I wish I went and spent the last few games hanging with friends and showing my spirit for our school.