University of Colorado Colorado Springs Top Questions

If I could go back in time and give advice to the high school senior version of myself, I would provide three pieces of advice. The first thing I would tell myself is to not procrastinate. Unlike high school where it was easy to write a paper at the last minute and get a good grade on it, it is not easy to do that in college and your grade will suffer if you do procrastinate with papers, and I would make sure the senior version of me knew that. The second piece of advice I would give myself is how to interact with roommates. Living with three strangers in a small area is difficult and I would warn myself to be more easy going with the different situations and be more open to trying new things and going new places with my roommates instead of staying in my room on the computer. The last piece of advice I would give is to stay true to myself. College is the place to get to know and discover who you, and I would incourage the senior version of myself to go out and take chances without being afraid to fail.

If I were to be able to go back in time to high school and give myself advice, I would start by telling myself to study more, get more involved in the community, and participate in more athletics. I have never studied as much as I have since entering college, and it's a totally new experience absorbing all this new information. I wish I had studied more in high school because I believe it would have helped my grades greatly. It would also have made me stand out more as a student. Furthermore, I would also have volunteered in the community more often to better assist people in need. Learning sociology this year has made me realize the importance of strenghthening our communities. Athletics would also be another area in which I would improve. Getting involved in more sports would have given me a greater skill set in terms of leadership and teamwork. My goal in college is to accomplish all these things and also succeed academically.

If only I could go back in time and sit down with my naive, confused self (basically any teenager I suppose)! Since graduating from college I have changed my major many many times so I would first tell myself there is no rush in picking a major nor starting school right away; take time off to really explore and find your passions and go with them. I would hint take what has been your main interest and conflict since high school and focus on that as a career. Enjoy your time instead of fretting about how there is not enought time in the day! "Worrying does not solve tomorrow's problems, but instead takes away today's peace"

Just relax and make studying your priority.

Ask for help! Knowing that there are always people out there that know more than you, and that all you have to do is ask for help would have been very helpful. I also think that the more time-management skills you have, the better.

Believe in your heart and be consistant in what you want to be in life. Don't give up, and become what you wanr to become until you've accomplish your dream.

If I could go back and talk to my high school self I would tell her that high school isn't everything and that there is far more to life than your high school friends, so when you lose contact after graduation, don't be heartbroken, you'll make new amazing friends in college! I would tell myself to enjoy how simple and easy life is, to take every opportunity because you only live once and this is time that you can never get back! Make sure that when you look back on high school it makes you smile! College IS as hard as everyone says, but it's do-able so don't be discouraged or nervous! Don't let anyone influence where you go to college because YOU are going, not them! And embrace college once you get there, don't be stuck in high school; enjoy the memories, but learn to create new ones and not be stuck in the past! YOU CAN DO IT!

It is unreasonable to ask a high school senior to know what they want to do with their lives. High school teaches us absolutely nothing about the world! It is completely okay to spend some time meeting intellectual people, having adult experiences and situations, and learning about the "grown-up" world in order to make a good decision about where you want to end up eventually. So if you don't know what you want to do on your first day of college, that's okay. You'll be surrounded by motivated people who want to better themselves by gaining a valuable education, so there's no doubt that something will spark your interest from the people you meet in college. Don't rush. You have all the time in the world to figure out what to do with your life, Holly.

I have truly learned so much throughout my college experience. I have attended two different colleges, and they have quite different experiences. Mostly, I have learned about myself: what I really want, that I am not one of those people who can just earn great grades easily. Because of this self-realization, I have learned to set goals. Throughout school from kindergarden to senior year of high school, teachers always made students set goals, so I probably should have learned sooner. It was not until college when I learned what a worthwhile goal was, and if I set a goal that I want to achieve, then I actually have to work towards it. In high school, goals were always short-term, but now that I have been thrown into the real world, I need to set life-long goals. My current goal is to attend medical school. This goal is worthwhile because it is not an easy feat, and now I am learning how to work towards furthering my education. It has been valuable to attend college, because without it, I would not have learned how to prepare for the rest of the life I want.

By living at home and struggling to pay for school I have learned the value of a dollar to acheive something in life. Of course I wanted to attend a school with a big sports program and social life but knowing I would have copious amounts of loans to pay off school if I didn't live at home, I sacrificed those desires in order to be successfull at school. Being at UCCS has been beneficial as several of the professors are not huge names in their field , therefore they dont have an over bearing ego to deal with. Also I get the feeling from several professors that they are truly passionate about their fields and my success as they are simply there to educate the future of their industry and ensure it prospers well past their death. Along with this commitment to students, professors typically have years of experience in their field if they are not currently working in it, giving students a practical reality to what is truly going on in the industry they (the student) are pursing a degree in.