University of North Carolina School of the Arts Top Questions

You will change. You will have experinces you never expected. Embrace them but never loose sight of yourself. This new environment will challenge you. Friends will lean on you and you will lean on your friends. These are some of the best people you will ever have the opportunity to come across. You went to film school because you have been passionate about movies ever since you can remember. You're learning about your first love every day here. Learn as much as you can before you have to graduate. Money will be tight, but always be gracious. Never think this will be the best time of your life, there's still a lot of life to live after. This is the first time you've ever had to pay to go to class, so go! Try to not live off noodles and fast food, take care of yourself and eat as healthy as you can. And most importantly, remember to call your parents. They let you go to art school, they love you more than you could ever know.

I would tell my high school self that I should have taken my AP courses more seriously and strived to get an A in the courses in place of a B. I would say that you need to push yourself more instead of doing the bare minimum because striving for excellence is extremely important in the real world which is out of school. Also, I would tell my senior high school self to research for a film school in state, instead of being so insistent of leaving home, for the most important reason that you will receive more financial aid in state. When arriving at school don’t try so hard to make friends but the genuine people will show themselves friendly.

Dear Symmone I could sit here for days and tell you all about college. The good, bad, the friendships you’ll make, lose and the work. But that’s not what college is about. Yes, it definitely has all of those things, but that’s not thebest advice I could give you. College is becoming the adult you want to be. You make the transition from dependent high school senior to independent adult and the way you handle situations and conflicts can make your life easy or hard. The one big piece of advice I could give you, is understanding that in this world, we’re born to make mistakes. If you don’t make mistakes, then you aren’t going to learn anything. Make mistakes and don’t beat yourself up about it when you do. How are you supposed to know that you do or don’t like experiences if you don’t try them? But be careful; no one in this world is going to take care of you the exact way you want to be taken care of, so make sure you chose the people you want to have these experiences with carefully. Good luck, Symmone

Chill out, seriously, just stop. I understnad society is a crappy place in which a few monumental details can make or break your future, but you are a unique individual with a determination to succeed, so stop stressing. Applying for colleges will take forever, and be either heartbreaking or life changing. If you aren't accepted into a college, there are plenty others that actually want to give you and education and change your life. College will be everything you are expecting and more. If you want to reinvent yourself, find yourself, or finally thrive as the indivudual you are, college will give you that opportunity. But the most important advice I can give you, is to never give up, I know it's cliche, but it's true. College is a self motivated place where you can learn immesurable amounts, or waste your life and money, either way it's your choice as an adult. Just don't give up on the opportunities you're given, and learn that high school will be a figment of the past, so chill out.

I spent my time in high school focusing almost exclusively on my studies and grades and on my passion, which is ballet. I almost never socialized except at the dance studio and as a result I look back on my time in high school with mixed emotions. While my friendships were close in middle school, high school took a level of energy in terms of socialization and interactions with people that I never expected. So what would I tell myself? To chill out. To take each day as something to enjoy rather than something to survive. There is value and beauty in living one's life working to achieve a dream, but I lived four years of my life simply trying to make it to the next day. I look back now and I know I was unrealistic in how I approached the daily grind of life. There was no sense of balance, no give and take, no accpetance of imperfections, no reality in my own personal reality. I regret that. I wish in many ways I could try again. That is what I would tell myself... take a chance and truly live.

Direction, not intention, determines our destination. I intended on becoming great, becoming known, and becoming successful. I intended on going to college to receive a Bachelors in Fine Arts, and I ultimately intended on attending the greatest school in the world for modern dance, The Ailey School and dancing for the Alvin Ailey company. I have realized through my struggle, success, growth, and failure that my intentions are not enough. Every decision we make in our lifetime will affect the direction and pathway we go down even if we have the best intentions for our future. The choices that we make in each and every day will in the end lead us down a road that brings us success and happiness, or a road that leads to our darkest nightmares. It is today's decisions that will affect tomorrow's outcome.

The advice I would give to my highschool self is to really evaluate the timing of your career and maybe have gone to UNCSA imediatley after graduating instead of taking a year off and joing a company when you shoud have made sure that your training at that time in your life was really up to par with that field. But know after recieving the proper training that you need to pursue a promising career in the field of classical ballet you could have had a better chance of doing this instead of wasting a year in an already short career field.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior I would tell myself that it is not going to be as easy as I thought it would be. Coming from several academically gifted programs it is terrifying to get to UNCSA and realize you are not as smart as you thought you were. It's almost crippling to realize that you are wrong. I would remind myself that it is okay to make mistakes and that it is all part of learning how to be a better sound designer and engineer.

if i could go back to my high school self i would tell her to get involved in as many groups at school as possible. Surround yourself with all types of people so you can interact and learn about how each types differ. I would tell her not to sweat the small stuff as high school is temporary and not lasting. The big issues in high school mean nothing once you get to college.

Dear myself, Always do what you love and make sure that you surround yourself with people and a place that nurtures that desire. Don’t worry about those who don’t believe in you. Doubt can spread like a disease to those who give it the time of day. You are a child who is walking for the first time. You will fall time and time again. Eventually you will discover that taking a step is going through that same process of falling, only catching yourself at the end. If you fail more times then your peers and pay attention to why, you will have truly been successful. Keep an open mind and don’t judge anyone based on what you have heard. There is not a single person in the world that you cannot learn a great deal from, so do not limit anyone’s potential. Don’t feel inadequate when you are learning for the first time what others have known since childhood and don’t let your pride block you from absorbing the simple lessons that life teaches you. Yours truly,Yourself. P.S. There will always be other girls.