University of Central Missouri Top Questions

The very best advice I would give to myself is "Don't excempt from living in the Freshman dormatories!" Not living in the dorms my first year is my biggest mistake so far, and I feel my GPA hurting for it. Living on campus makes it very easy to get to class, communicate with students who are in the exact same situation as me, and even participate in campus sponsered events. Everything is just a couple blocks away! Even if you don't want to live on campus for the college, live on campus because it's close to the rest of town! Resteraunts, parks, grocery stores, gas stations... you name it! Commuting from out of town means that sometimes I can't make it to those locations because it is too far to walk. So, "live on campus!"

Wake up and study, study, study! Academics are above all things in school.

If I was a high school senior I would tell myself not to slack off because it is almost over. I would tell my self to get involved in as many leadership opportunities and commuinity services as possible. I would tell myself to keep my same friends but talk to new people that I have never talked to before. I would tell myself to develop a study schedule so it is not such a shock once I got to College. The final thing I would tell myself is to strive for all A's and to be as nice as possible to my parents because even though I am away from home I still need them for many things.

Take a deep breath, slow down. Do not rush your future, take all the classes that interest you, before choosing a major. You have plenty of time to go to school no point in rushing it. Have fun, enjoy all the classes that spark some interest. When you are an adult you want your career to be something you love, so make sure you look at all your options. There is no harm in taking things slow and enjoying your education. You want to make sure you make the right decision when you pick your major. School is not all about taking boring classes, its about finding yourself, figuring out who you are and what you want to do with the rest of your life. Its about beginning your future, you do not want to begin your future not knowing if you are making the right decision. So take your time to figure it all out, have some fun. Do what interest you. Take a deep breath, and slow down. No point in rushing.

As a high school senior I felt hopeless and intimidated by the idea of going to college. I felt that even though I thought I'd be able to make it, I would really struggle. If I could give my past self advice I would simply say that even thoughthe fear I felt was real and understandable, I could not let it hold me back from doing things that I knew I wanted to try. If I would always take just one step past that fear I would find the real possibility of success. I would also reassure myself that I didn't have to do college all at once but that I had to only face one day at a time for four years and that I could definitely conqure one day at a time successfully.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself, "College is not as hard as everyone said. All through your senior year, most of your teachers said that college was going to be extremely hard and completely different from high school. They got something right, college life is completely different. But what they deem as hard, will just be another challenge. Do not let the struggle of leaving home and everyone you know deter you from making new friends and a different life for yourself. Don't get me wrong, college is difficult, but do not worry about what you cannot change. Take one day at a time and you will make it, trust me."

The first thing I would tell myself, is to live in the moment. High School seems like it takes a long time, but really it was gone before I knew it. There are many life lessons to be learned during High School and many people miss out on them, because they are wishing the time away. The best thing to do is to live in the moment and take in all of the experiences. I would also tell myself to keep up the good study habits, because they will help tremendously in college. In High School some seniors start to slack, because they think they are on a downhill run from there, but this is where they are mistaken. The habits developed in High School are greatly important, because they become the foundation of a successfull college education and career. The third thing I would tell myself is to relax, because as long as I work hard, then I will do good and everything will be ok.

If I could go back in time the advice I would give my self would have to be don't procrastinate on anything, such as filling out the FAFSA and getting taxes done early, signing up for classes, buying/renting books, getting school supplies, being aware of where your classes are located before the first day, and most importantly studying and getting homework/projects done. I say these things because my first year in college I thought to myself that I was on my own I can do what ever I want and when ever I want. With this attitude it gave me a 2.33 GPA my first semester and almost lost my financial aid. I got "ahead of the game" my next semester and I made the dean's list and got my first ever 4.0 GPA. Here I am today transferred to a new school with an Associate's Degree and hopefully soon get a Bachelor's Degree in a couple of years.

If I were to talk to my 17-year-old self, I would tell her to go straight to the University of Central Missouri instead of going to community college first. There were several things I wish I would have done as an undergraduate including being more involved in on-campus activities. However, more pertinent is the relationships I developed with my professors. I wish I could tell my high school self what to major and minor in so I wouldn't have changed them so much. I may have gotten to take more classes with professors that I particularly favor. Also, I would have looked into getting a job on campus so I wouldn't have had to go home every weekend to work. I think I would have enjoyed my undergraduate experience more if I hadn't been so tunnel-visioned on the degree. Of course, the degree is why I went on to UCM but there is so much more to the experience that I missed out on.

Get all your general education classes done first then pick out you major.