Western Washington University Top Questions

In highschool we all face numerous problems,from fitting in with the popular group to trying to find ourselves. Everyone feels that who you are in highschool depitcts who you are going to be for the rest of your life. However, this is not always the case. . If I was given the chance to go back in time to when I was in highschool ,thought it was only a year ago, i would greatly change how I acted. In high school I was the gay kid and i couldnt go down the hallway without being called a" faggot" or "fairy". I came out in school in tenth grade. It was very traumatic for me, especially when my mother didn't accept me for who I was. I still remember sitting in gym class alone with no one to talk to about my feelings. At that point of my life i became very anti-social and contemplated suicide. If I went back in time I wish I could tell myself that life gets alot better. As of now my family has known about my orientation for a year and I have made numerous friends who love me for who I am.

Dear Timberline Graduate of 2010, I understand that letting go of home, friends, and an environment in which you feel both comfortable and confident in is difficult. You are not someone who goes down without a fight. Throw a left hook at your fear and lay it flat. Walk right over it and into your future. You will be fine. Fear is not a locked door that keeps from the outside, it is an umbrella that shields you from the rain of possibilities. No worries though, in Bellingham where you will be attending college, the wind turns that unmbrella inside out. Your future as a student of Western Washington Univiersity is bright. A little advice though, spend more time in the common rooms. I know its hard to put yourself out there to new people, but common spaces like the one in your dorm are perfect and a great environment for studying and making friends. Ps. Please study a tad bit more for your Sociology class, it is your major so you should really make that class count.

i would give myself the advice to start my career and go further in it to learn and accomplish more in the Medical fields.

Get straight A's, do community service and learn a second language. Respect all relationships, personal or otherwise. Graduate sooner rather than later and do not take any professors advice for granted. Live up to your potential because you have potential. Care for others because you can. When you feel stressed breath look up at the sky and smile. Motivate yourself with what you have accomplished and what you can still accomplish. Motivate others by setting a positive example. Be organized, take notes and keep in touch with your family, your peers and your community. Smile. Laugh. Don't worry about what other's are doing worry about what you are doing. Study abroad, meet new people, ignore social pressures, relax. Life is an experience, live it, love it, enjoy it. Be prepared for the future and fond of the past, but live in the moment. It's okay if you don't know what you are doing, talk to your best friend he won't know what he's doing either. You'll find it's better to be open minded and flexible than close minded and ridged. Now go have fun and smile while you are at it.

So far I have gotten to experience a whole new life style. I was raised in a small town where I knew everyone, so the most valuable thing I have gotten is to meet people who have had differnt situations and experiences than I have. People are such a great way to learn new things. I have been able to go to classes that I never had the opportunity to go before and learn about subjects not offered in my home town. My home town is often refered to as "the bubble" because it is sheltered from the rest of the world. I am blessed to be able to have this opportunity to get out of the bubble and live and learn at Western.

I am a single mother of three with no income and returning student and what I am getting out of my current college experiance is a sense of confidence and capapbiltiy. It is valuable to attend to be able to be released from the grips of poverty, learn and have a career so that I can be able to provide for my children and afford them the opportunties to give my children a better future. I want to inspire them, while being inspired by receiving an education that can change my life and lives of my children. My experiance this time compared to my experiance in 1998-2000 is so vastly different it is hardly comparable to this experiance now. It is more technologically advanced and most of my classes are web hybrid classes and it is taking some time to get used to, but enjoy the challenge and gives me the confindence to be a good competitor. I desperatly want to get off of govt. assistance and provide my family with income I have earned myself...that will give me pride and integrity to set a good example for others.

Coming to college has helped me to gain self confidence. I have learned how to reach out and make friends as well as become involved in community activities. I have learned how to come to a new place where i have no support system and create my own niche. College is valuable because it has forced me to experience a wide range of cultures and beliefs. Coming from a small town, this has opened my eyes to the diversity present in our world taught me the importance of understanding and accepting people and ideas which i am unfamiliar with. These lessons will be invaluable in the workplace and will help me to achieve my personal and career oriented goals.

Attending college was an immensely valuable decision for me. Not only am I lucky to be immersed in many classes for my desired major (piano performance), but I am grateful for the friends I've found, and the world I've been exposed to. I waited a long time to finally let my music take priority over the rest of my academics, and now, because it's my major, I can finally make that happen, and it feels amazing. I was nervous coming to college, being an introvert, but my nerves were soon quelled as quickly I met some the best friends I've ever had. College is great for bringing together people from different backgrounds and areas of the world, and giving them the opportuity to meet each other. In addition to making friends with those you meet, it's important and wonderful just to meet people whos views and ideas are different from yours, as it's easy to believe your way of thinking is the only way. In this way, colleges like Western prepare you for the real world by introducing the concept of civility and acceptance to those whose ideas are different from yours.

I've never realized how much I underestimated the amount of knowledge I would gain in one class, one quarter, freshman year. In my first quarter, I was so involved in every class that I would look forward to every lecture as something special. I realized at the end of the quarter, that I could do so much better next quarter if I combined enthusiasm with hard work. Never have I been so motivated about my education. Right now I'm learning Mongolian language, but I'm also studying Japanese and German on my own. Another aspect of college that has been just as valuable are my relationships my roommate and others around me. Noticing that first quarter I focused more on classes than being social, this quarter I've been working on both and it's paid off. My roommate and I feel like we can trust each other much more and I've become much closer to those around me. I've started a get together at the Abagio coffee shop for every week. I'm gaining valuable social skills as well as education skills that I would not be able to attain otherwise.

The most valuable lessons I have recieved have come out of the classroom. Not to say that my education is in itself worthless, but understanding how to interact with an unfamiliar enviroment truly on my own was and is the most vital lesson I needed to learn. Simple tasks such as living in a house with 7 roomates and managing our bills has taught me a great deal about people first hand that I didn't learn during high school. Suddenly thrust into a situation where I needed to be able to pay for my own food, clothing, shelter, and educational supplies has given me a great deal of appreciation for the work of my parents and for the small things I took for granted growing up. Also, having and being able to establish my own life away from the friends I grew up with has been important for both myself and my friends to understand who we really are as individuals. You might think this distance would initally harm a friendship, on the contrary it has managed to bring us closer together. Learing all this within a university community has allowed for a smoother transition to the real world,.