University of Kansas Top Questions

If I could go back in time, I would tell high school senior version of myself to stay focused and work harder to raise my ACT score to receive scholarships to help stay at the University of Kansas. The University of Kansas was an amazing choice and it would be hard to go your first year and fall in love with the school itself, and then find out the next year that there is a strong possibility that you might not be able to attend. I would tell myself to do everything in my power to try to maintain happiness that KU gives off, and do not be lazy when it comes to applying my skills. I would also tell myself to pay close attention in English class when it comes to writing essays because college is full of essays and they are no joke. Study more and stop “winging” test due to the fact that in college, that will not help out with your GPA. Basically, if I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would say keep up the good work, never give up, and work harder than ever.

If I had an opportunity to communicate with myself as a senior in high school, I would have many life lessons to share. First, I would inform myself that procrastination is unacceptable and more stressful than completing work early. I would also acknowledge that while moving away from home seems appealing, it is a much better decision to stay close to home and attend a community college for the first few years. Community college is less expensive and most credits eventually transfer to a four-year institution. The most important concept that I would stress to myself would be that although it takes time and effort to apply for scholarships it is worth the effort in the end; whether you receive the scholarship or not the attempt itself was worth the energy and learning experience. Another important lesson that I would verbalize to myself would be that although my parents seem aggravating and difficult they offer valuable advice. By stressing that tasks be completed on my own and that I should work hard at everything I do, they have taught me how to be a better person, and I am lucky to have them in my life.

I would encourage my high school self to get involved in the activities going on around campus without fear of rejection. There is so much to do and so many interests are served with different student groups, if you try a lot of new things something is bound to feel right. I would also tell myself to look at college as an opportunity to be reinvented in a whole new place with tons of new and exciting people that you can learn and grow from having known. Lastly, I would tell myself to get to know professors, to go visit them at their office hours when I'm in need of help or guidance because they are all knowledgable and kind and it's helpful to have a relationship with them so they recognize your face!

If I had to go back and talk to seniors about college, I would inform them to have fun. College is a time for people to find out who they really are. It is a chance to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. I joined a sorority and left college with 80 plus best friends. Put yourself in uncomfortable situations and learn from that experience. Make sure you sustain an equal school and personal life balance. If you have a dream or a goal, pursue those in college. You only live once and you want to live it up in college. Everyone says college is the best four years of your life and I agree full heartily. I had the best time of my life and gained a handful of best friends. Graduation was very difficult because you have to say goodbye to your friends who move away for jobs, goodbye to the professors who you had every year, and goodbye to your college town which you grew to love and grew to who you really wanted to be. Live college to the fullest because in a blink of an eye, it will all be over.

I see the whirling dial descending through the decades; 2010’s, 2000’s, 1990’s….It clicks to a stop at 1988. Every number that slipped silently backwards through the sands of time encompassed a year’s worth of experiential growth; Life lessons that made me who I am; forged by smiles and tears. I step out of the time machine to confront myself with one piece of wisdom; not to change my path, but to elevate it to a higher plane. I approach the naïve high-school senior, full of hope and dreams under a poodle-top 80’s do. This is what I tell my former self: “The value in life is not in a prize held aloft at the end of the race, but in the individual moments that make up the journey. It is not in the completion of a paper, but in the passages you read to assimilate the concept. It is not in finding a spouse, but in the gift of interaction with individuals that touched your soul in some small way. Focus on the here and now, each action, each breath, and you will be the person you were meant to be.”

Expect freedom, but also expect conflict. I fill myself in on the grandeur that is the freedom of college life such as whether to attend lecture or not. On the other hand I would make it well known to myself that because of these freedoms conflicts will arise. College students are on a hunt to find out who they are, and because of this they are considering less about what others think and more about what they want. Fights will break out, arguments will happen, and someone might come barging into your dorm room at 3am the night before your exam at 8 in the morning, but this will just make the whole college experience worth wild. Interactions with people who had a graduating class of less than 20 will happen. Interactions with people who have lived as far away as England will occur. Interactions with the coolest potheads will happen. You might even end up on Bourban Street with some people from your dorm. All in all my advice to myself would be to get of my lazy, netflix watching bum and network with more people.

Honestly, there is only one piece of advice I would've given myself back in high school, and that would've been to learn how to properly study for college courses. I came from a small, rural school with a class size of 16 kids... studying was never much of a challenge for me, and it only took an hour or two (if even that). When I first started class at KU, I tried handling the coursework much like I had in high school. I quickly learned that my old method was no longer effective in getting my work done, and done well. I had to develop a new method for studying and completing schoolwork, and it was rather difficult. I was so used to school being naturally easy that having to approach it as a challenge was near impossible. It was quite the struggle, but I managed to pull through; I became so accustomed to my old way of studying that I thought I'd never learn, but I did it, and now I'm on the right track to success.

College is more than just a stepping stone to the next phase of life. I spent high school focused on graduating and approached college in a similar manner. I now have to balance a full schedule of professional engineering courses, two jobs and my need to be outside and spend time rock climbing. I realize now how much I did not fully appreciate or utilize the freedom I had as an underclassman. I would be much better served now if I had taken advantage of that free time to explore my other interests as well as career paths. I look back now and wish I had gotten more hands on experience in my field of study. However, I would not change my major. I found a combination of a major, concentration and minor that fully enveloped my interests so I feel that academically I took exactly the right steps. Overall, I would say live in the moment a little more and work hard.

if you choose to pick a community college around the area, make sure they have Instructors in the class room and make sure if they have tutors on the campus. The college your went to is not the one your looking for, ask for more info about scholarships and finance and remember keep your grades up, in college they don't mess around with grades.

Remember the famous line, "less is more". Your dorm room may look big in pictures, but once you arrive, it well feel like the size of closet. You do not need every single t-shirt you accumlated from sporting events, school, and concerts. Just pick a few of your favorites and wear them more than once. You also do not need to bring all your nice clothes. You may think that you will dress nice and look good to go to class, but once that alarms goes off at 7:15 for that 8am class, a nice blouse or polo is the last thing you want to put. Just because your meal plan allows you to get as much food as you want, does not mean you should do it. Although the food choices may be scarces, that doesn't mean load up on pizza. Go grocery shopping and get some healthy snacks or just eat one slice. Those freshman 15 can creep up faster than you think. Finally, don't write down every word spewing out of the professor mouth. Create your own short hand and get the main points. and whenever in doubt, remember "less is more".