Western Oregon University Top Questions

Your on the right path. Go ahead and join the Army, but don't reinlist after your tour is over, take thye G.I. Bill and start college. Don't get married, wait until you finish school, otherwise you're going to end up divorced before you're 25. Stop drinking now, it may seem like a lot of fun, but it's going to cause you so many problems. Don't worry about not fitting in, everybody else feels the same way they're just better at hiding it. You are enough, don't let other people or your own head tell you your not. Pick your friends carefully, make friendship that will last. Pick people who are honest, loyal and respectful. Do this because you need to learn it from some one. Your lack of family up bring is not an excuse, far more people have been through much worse, you're not a victim

Don't be afraid! College isn't as scary or hard as it seems. You're a good student and you'll have no problem here. There are so many opportunities to make friends and connect with people who have the same interests. You'll never find people who understand you like the friends in your major do. Don't be afraid to follow your heart. Follow your passion. The professors and advisors will tell you how to be successful doing whatever it is you want to do. Don't keep your nose stuck in your books. This will be the greatest time of your life so far. Take a break from studying and go out with your friends or roommates. Get to know your professors well. They'll be more understanding about issues you may have if they know you're commited to your education and the class. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn or grow that comes your way. THIS IS THE TIME. Take classes that scare you or are out of your comfort zone. Join clubs, play sports, see shows. This is YOUR time. Make it count.

I would definitely prepare more for college. I had no idea what I wanted in college and I would do more research about where I wanted to go. I would look for schools that had more to offer and had better social lives. I would get a higher gpa so that I could get more financial aid. I would not go to college with a boy friend but instead be open to every situation that came about.

The advise I would give myself would be to expand my knowledge in citing sources, and using the internet and textbooks for information. In high school I wasn't taught how to use sources to create my essays properly. I have had to teach myself in college in order to complete my essays and other work. Citation is key to a good essay, and also making sure the original author gets credit for their work. In high school I wasn't taught the proper way to cite a source, and have had to teach myself this in order to finish my college work.

The advice that I would give myself as a high school senior would be to build more meaningful relationships with the ones around me. As a high school senior, I had a lot of friends but I wouldn't say that I had a lot of close friends. I think I would tell myself to put more effort into building relationships that are going to last and withstand the test of time. Along with having strong relationships, comes branching out and leaving my comfort zone to make these relationships happen. I was a little bit shy and guarded when it came to communicating with teachers, bosses and adults in general. I am learning now that these people taking on these leadership roles in society do have a lot of beneficial advice. I have found that because they are older they have experienced a lot more than I have, so they may have some insight that goes hand in hand with what I am going through everyday as an involved student.

If I could go back in time and give myself some advice as a high school senior, it would definitely be to work as hard as I could regardless of the grade that I recieved. Study habits are extremely important, and it is definitely something that I lacked in high school. Although I did well in high school, I didn't work as hard as I could have. I did enough to pass my classes, but I did not value the information that I was recieving. If I would have paid more attention and tried harder, then I may have gained a lot more knowledge that could have been beneficial to me now. So, if I could tell myself one thing, it would be to truly do my best in everything that I do in order to portray the best me that I possibly could.

Choose a different hall and roommate immediately! College is supposed to be the best time of your life, so make it just that! Do not try and please everyone, always do what is best for you, and do not stress because you'll have the campus down in less than a week. It's okay to realize that your friends from high school and you are on different paths, do not worry because you will find new ones. Continue to focus on school like you always have but do not forget to be social too! Just remember: have fun!

If I could talk to my high school self, I would encourage myself to take more AP classes, to branch out a little more, and to take ASL classes in high school. First, I would tell myself not to worry about an intense course load, and to just gain the experience of taking a wider variety of higher level classes (not just focusing on AP Language Arts courses). Additionally, I would want to reach out to more people and develop more friendships. As rewarding as it was to have a tight nit group of friends—whom I all cheered with—it would be nice to develop a wider rage of relationships. Lastly, I would want myself to take ASL in high school, instead of waiting until college to learn ASL. Because my major is in Special Education, having a base line understanding of deaf culture would be helpful before entering college.

I think the best piece of advice I would give myself is to jump into things. In high school, I wasn't a big joiner, and coming to college is a great time to try out for plays and join clubs and its also a great way to meet people. Also, I would tell myself to relax and be myself. College is completely different from high school in that you have more freedom. Of course there is the obvious freedom like living on your own and choosing your schedule and what not, but there is also the freedom of a new town with entirely new people who know nothing about you. You can make yourself be anyone you want, and for someone like me who was a little shy in high school, I finally felt brave enough to come out of my shell and be the real me. In high school I was really worried about making friends and now that I'm here, I wish I had known how different college really is, and how different I can be when I feel safe to open up and be myself.

I would begin by advising myself not to be afraid to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. Though it may be scary or intimindating, you never know what you're missing until you give it a try. Take advantage of the extra-curricular activities offered! Not only is extra-circular activities important but it also gives you the opportunity to meet and interact with people of diverse backgrounds. Enjoy the journey for it will shape your future and make the most of these four years because they go fast!