University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Top Questions

Innocent RaeLena, Believe it or not I am you from the future. I understand that you are very confused right now about where life is taking you and you feel trapped into certain career paths. This is simply not true. Do not worry about boyfriends and 'starting a life' because in the future you will have a great husband who adores you and two beautiful children. Instead focus on the opportunities that exist right in front of you. I can honestly tell you that you need to think differently about the educational opportunities you have right now. In my time, I am a full time student working toward a degree in Anthropology. Why am i doing this? Because WE didn't take full advantage of the possibilities of our future. If we had, I would be traveling the world right now and making discoveries that would affect humanity. Do not waste this time because I will regret it. Go away to college, take your degree seriously, and keep going until you have a Phd. You will benefit the world better that way. Oh, and be nice to mom, sometimes she is actually right. Regretful RaeLena

If i were able to go back and give my high school self advice, i would tell myself that the small stuff doesnt matter. In high school every aspect of your life seems like such a big deal, but when one looks back on it you relize that you were focusing on the things that were not important. I would tell myself to focus on school, because it really does matter. When you are in college you are always going to wish that you tried harder in high school and didn't spend all of your time worrying about things that would seem so irrelevant after high school. However, the biggest thing i would tell myself is to worry about yourself and your goals, and not what other people are doing. As much as people in high school try to focus on what others are doing. i think that focusing on myself and my goals would have helped me a lot in high school, and ultimitly would have better prepared me for the transition into college.

I would tell myself that the girl I was with wasn’t who I would end up with. I gave up a lot of opportunities because of her. I don’t regret it, but it did hold me back a couple years from getting fully involved on campus. Now that I have branched out everything has changed for the better. I have more friends, I am now the president of a fraternity, and my grades have increased dramatically because I have a huge support system around me now. I don’t regret those early years, but I would tell myself to not pass up on many great opportunities that I was presented with at an early age.

Dear high school me, College is way different than high school. High school seems hard now, but just wait. In college, you will have a false sense of freetime. You need to take that freetime and study. I'm not joking. You will only have 17 hours of in class time during the week. That seemed like a piece of cake in the beginning. But professors expect you to do practice problems from the book and read ahead for the next class without having to be reminded. I thought it would be a cake walk, but now I see how much self-discipline and thinking ahead on my part there is to school now. My overall advice would be to not waste your time. Stay off social media until all the homework is done for that day. You will be much better off and your grades will reflect that. Remember the goal. Love, College Me

I would have told myself to not get caught up in the party scene and focused on my studies, would have said to save my money and prepare for the future a lot better than I did my first round of school. I would have advised to get more involved on campus and volunteer for community service. And not to take life too seriously and have fun be still be responsible.

Going back in time to when I was a senior in high school, I was extremely nervous about starting college. I was still immature in some ways, and did not know what to expect. Now that I am going into my 3rd and last year of college, I would give the advice to my past self to apply for more scholarships. I haven't recieved one, and my family and I have been struggling with money lately. I am trying to find a job so I am able to pay off all of my loans when I graduate, but it is not as easy as some people think. Many people get things handed to them so it can be frustrating at times. I would tell my past self to apply for more scholarships and also to simply relax and tell yourself it will be fine. I have grown up a lot, and have become more responsible. I have made friends for life, and have the most caring people to help me along the way. I can't tell my future right now, but I know if I work hard for what I want then maybe I will get just that.

I would tell myself to not be afraid of filling out scholarship essays in December before Christmas break- because that time definitely came in handy. I applied to 19 schools and was accepted by 18. Knowing what I know now, I would have taken tour of those schools, made that list smaller and applied maybe to 4 schools that offered programs I was interested in. If possible, I would do an over night or weekend stay at the school I wanted to attend. You really get to see how a school really is when someone is not giving you a tour. I would also tell myself to be wiser with money. Whether my money comes from a job, loans, tuition reimbursement, refunds, etc. - SAVE IT! As a young adult I saw any money as the opportunity to treat myself and my family, because I grew up low income. Knowing what I know now, I would have saved at least 25{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of every bit of money I acquired. I could have used that money for a car, for Grad school, for a house, and to enjoy myself. The last thing I would tell myself is to HAVE FUN!

Looking back now, I wish I would have taken more college prep classes or classes that would count as college credits. With the cost of college every little credit would help. Having a full load in college and being considered a full time student is not only a financial burden it is hard and I think the whole college freshman year is a learning experience and having a jump on the credit hours that I needed would have been really nice. I also would have worked more hours at my job. I have had a part time job since I was 16 but had I worked more I could have saved up more money and had to borrow less. Although college life is fun, I think that this will be 4 of the hardest years of my life as it prepares me to take on the world. I cannot wait to see what I do!!

I think I would tell myself to be more prepared. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, and so by choosing UC as my college I did not really think about it being a huge change. I feel like I was unprepared not only personally, but professionally, academically and financially. During my first semester at UC I commuted to campus, meaning I would basically spend all of my time the way I would during high school. I would relax, work and spend too much money not focus on my schoolwork or growing as a leader on campus. To say I was shocked when I got my first exam back would be an understatement. If I could tell myself one piece of advice I would try to tell myself to wake up and smell the roses! This is college, not high school. You are now held to a high standard, not only as a student, but as an adult in charge of their own future; so start acting like it!

Looking back at my college experience, if I could give myself a piece of advice as a high school senior I would have stressed the importance in obtaining scholarships. I have graduated and entered the workforce but my income isn’t as high as I expected an individual that possess a bachelors degree to be. I have discovered what my student loan monthly payments will be and it has made me realize that I don’t generate enough income to pay for my student loan debt. Scholarships are out here for a reason, to help. I wish that I could go back and stress how important it was to help myself in the present because it would help me in the future. If I could give a piece of advice to a high school senior today, I’d tell them that sacrificing your time and energy seeking and applying for various grants and scholarships is 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} worth it because it will only help you in the long run.