University of Maryland-College Park Top Questions

I would have gone to college after I graduated for high school. I had on clue on what profession I wanted to go into. I would have taken general studies. I would have to talk to a career counselor to get some ideas of which profession would have interesting to me.

I would listen more and talk a lot less, specifically to what my mom said! She had and still has a lot of great things to say but when I was younger I just blew them off and did whatever I wanted to do. I guess that comes with the territory of growing up but listening has become the most important part of my job now. I am a teacher now and im working on my Master's in psychology it has helped me to really focus on listening more and talking less. Helping more and asking for less. It has made me happier in the process too.

I would encourage teenage Shayla to go straight to a community college and further her education. I would also tell her to choose exactly what she wants to be in life. I wouldnt suggest that she tries to attend and online college and take a loan out for it or would I suggest that she attempts to get a technical certificate from a privately owned school. I would tell her not to try and be a nurse if she knows that nursing is not in her heart. I would also insist that she is trurly sure that she is ready for college and that she is focused enough to make excellent grades. I would also tell her to speak to someone who has been to college and received their degree. I would tell her that with time management being mother wont interfere with going to college at all. I would inform her that going to college is a lenghty process and that its worth it. I just hope that its not to late to try again and become what I want to be.

If I could go back in time, I would not be able to give myself advice because the best way I have learned is receiving advice from elders and learning from my mistakes. I constantly learn from my surroundings everyday and I know for a fact that it is also a constant challenge to be able to follow through an advice when a bad habit sticks with you. For me, procrastination was and still is a major issue and I take it step by step to get rid of this horrid habit. I must say, there has been major improvement from high school to college with my procrastination but I still find it challenging to fully overcome it but I will one day for sure. In life, take it step by step and do not take more than you can handle is definitely one of the best advice I received and learned over time.

If I could give advice to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself not to stress out about the future. Throughout my senior year I stressed out a lot. From SAT scores, to college applications, to AP exams, to grades and finally to what school I would go to, stress was my constant companion. While all of these things were important and had an impact on my future endeavors, they didn’t require my constant worrying. In the end, my stress and worry could not impact what would happen and should have been kept to a minimum, if at all. Another piece of advice I would give myself is to take my AP classes more seriously and score higher on the exams. My AP classes truly helped prepare me for college work, but while I was in high school I didn’t take the classes very seriously. If I had in fact, worked harder in the classes I would have scored higher on the exam and entered college with at least a semester’s worth of credits. This would have made my transition to Maryland easier and would have helped me learn studying and time management skills.

I would not have given myself any additional advice.

The time will soon come when you must let go of your friends and accept that you will rarely see them again. Understand this: some friends stay and some don't. But what you cannot do is lock them up in a cage of expectations. There are plenty of fascinating people at college; you simply haven’t met them yet. In terms of the alcohol scene, it's not enough that you simply shun alcohol completely. When you enter college, I guarantee you will witness that scene and even be surprised to find some people drinking who you never thought would, including your closest friends. Start critiquing your own views of alcohol so that you can develop more intelligent decisions now. Otherwise, you'll be in for a surprise. When it comes to deciding your major, please take note that a perfect major does not exist, not even if you've taken a hundred "What's your Major" quizzes. Of course you should give your major some very serious thought, but don't just go expecting that there's a major out there that will suddenly make college a breeze. ALL majors require some level of commitment on your part.

To have a chance to go back in time to give myself advice. I would tell the high school me that I know you want to have fun, but don't change your class schedule. Keep the A.P. government class it's going to help you a lot in college. Also retake your S.A.T's, and take your A.C.T's it can help you to get into an out of state college. You can do it, its going to be a bit hard but trust me it will all pay off. Just keep focused in your classes. Make sure to sign up for all the University. Any college you get into Mom and Dad will be happy as long as its a University. If you do as I recommend the college life would be a greater experience then I'm already having. Also to help money wise make sure you apply for any scholarships. You can do all of this and still have fun your senior year. I know you can do it; the truth is you need too. If not your life wont be as fun as you expected it to be.

STUDY and read your text books

If I think that I would tell myself to take school more seriously. I think that prior to attending college students on average do the bare minimum in order to pass through school. If I had taken my schooling more seriously, I think that I could be more successful in school. I also believe I could have received more scholarships and attended a school I preferred more. I would also tell myself to become more acquainted with study habits. In college studying for tests, quizzes, and exams are not an option. Because of the amount of information that is being given, not to study is never an option. In college, I found myself having to learn how to study. I would recommend that I learn how to study the simple things in grade school before having more complex material in college.