University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Top Questions

Many people, much like myself, take high school for granted. It is quite easy to look at high school as a great opportunity to socialize, slack off, and experiment with all types of different things, especially your senior year specifically, because it is that "last push." Although it's true that high school does offer these types of opportunities, there are a significant amount of other things that should be taken advantage of. For example, a free education, a smaller institution to build strong relationships, and extra curricular activities that you actually have time for. If I had known how difficult and time-consuming college would be, I would have taken advatage of the time I had in high school to study harder, and challenege myself even more than I did with difficult classes to further prepare myself. I also would have focused LESS on socializing, and more on myself. You truly do not realize the importance of senior year until it is that "last push" that can determine your future. If I could do it all again, I would not hesitate.

If I could go back in time and give my senior-self advice I would start off by telling myself to soak in the experience as well as the process of school and school life. I would tell myself to no get too off track and stay focused on my school work becaus the work load might be difficult in the beginning but it's something that most everyone, including myself, get used to. However, I would remind myself not to be too hard on myself if I get a tad behind on credits, that there is still so much time in my life and I am blessed to even have the oppurtutnity to further my education and be in school. I have also had a hard time with moving out of state and away from all my family and friends. Therefore, I would tell myself that it's okay and normal to go through feelings such as homesickness, regret, and doubt that it's going to work out. I remind myself how normal those feelings are and that I am not the only one.

Nate, Our family is as loving as they come, but the paternal route of driving trucks is unfulfilling. Yes, it will pay the bills; and yes, technically you will be able to see the country; however, just like what you have recently witnessed with our parents and the divorce, the highway does not have much to say for itself after years on the same road. During 10 of these years sitting in the same seat, the true craving that we have is to actually have an impact on the world. Engineering is a notable way to fulfill that inner urge, as we can help to design the infrastructure that dad drove on for 40 years. You are a good student, and with focus on much more difficult classes, you can still continue your healthy GPA quite nicely. Don't forget out your friends and social life, but know that without a good degree and related job, life can feel meaningless. I know that you are incredibly apprehensive to take out a student loan, but don't let it scare you anymore. A job in this field will take care of it quickly. The future is promising, Love, Me

Senior year of high school is what I would call the stepping stone of freedom. Freedom meaning making decision for yourself, choosing your next steps in life and becoming a young adult. Deciding on what college to attend was one of the most intriguging and terrifying experiences of my life. If I could reverse time and do things differently, I would have liked to go visit lots of different schools to see what each college offered. Another thing that I would have did then was try to apply to more hbcu and out of state schools. I believe that college is all about the experience and making life long realtionships. The best advice that could give me self now is dont't make decisions on instinct and make sure the college you choose best fits your needs. Make sure the college helps you academically, socially, personally and will help you achieve your goals. At the end of the day this a life long decision and it is important that this institue will help you to be successful now and later down the road. So make sure you know the pros and cons of each college.

There are a million things I would love to tell my past self, now that I've been in college for about a year. Of course, my first word of adice would be APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS or perhaps even stop procrastinating! I would tell myself to stop letting my worries get me down to a crippling level. I've realized over the years that sometimes it is better to just do what you need to do and quit trying to be perfect. I would tell myself to enjoy my experiences more rather than letting them haunt me with their slight imperfections. I stifled myself a lot by putting things off in order to attain the most perfect version possible. Sometimes it's better to just get it over with. No one is perfect and over the past year I have learned that I certainly don't have to be.

If i could go back in time to when i was a high school senior, which for me isn't that far back, i would tell myself to deffinetly look for scholarships alot earlier. Waiting till last minute to apply for scholarships probably wasn't the best idea. Applying for scholarships earlier would have saved me the stress and i would have made more money for college and would be covered. Also i would tell myself to focus even more on my academics. Academics are the doorway to having it alot easier in college especially if you take college classes at a local college. That way i could knock out a couple credits and not have to take those classes in college. I would tell myself to focus more on my grades then having fun because that would have saved me all the roller coasters i had to deal with when it came to my GPA. And finally to put myself out there more and join more then one club because sometimes you can get scholarships for those and to make sure that i focus a little on giving back to the community during my free time a lot more.

You have got to stop procrastinating! They're not going to make time for you in college. You've got one chance on each assignment. Don't skip class, ever. Not only does it leave you behind in material, it can severely impact your grade, and impression on the professor. Do every assignment. You may not always like it, but at the end of the semester, every little thing counts. Put school first. Having a social life is great, but you're not paying big bucks to have fun. Always look ahead. There is no harm in being prepared. The best way to manage your time is to map out your assignments for the week, get them done by order of importance and due date, and leave other activities for later in the evening so you can get things done. Don't stress out too much. It's not that hard once you get used to it. Hang in there.

Focus on the important aspects of life and don't worry yourself with the small things. Enjoy life, give love, and live every day with a positive attitude.

When I was a high school senior, I was pretty sure that life would go as envisioned - I'd go straight to college, graduate in 4 years, get married, start a career and then have children. Of course, now that I'm almost 40, I can tell you with certainty that life does not always go as planned. In fact, sometimes life feels like it is careening dangerously off course and crashing all of your hopes and dreams at the same time. If I could talk to the kid I was as a high school student, I would explain that life always happens the way it is meant to, but often the path getting there is absolutely nothing like what you envisioned. I would encourage myself to always aim high and work hard because thaat can never go wrong, but to keep an open mind because things can change any time. In essence, I would encourage myself to be open to life's outcomes but not attached to them. (Oh, and I would tell my college-age self to calm down - just because God invented beer and parties doesn't mean you need to partake in all of them.)

Don't do it! At least, not yet. Take a little time before you commit to a university and a degree. You don't really know what you want to do with your life yet, so why not take a little time to get to know yourself. Who cares that some of your other friends are going off to prestigeous, high-dollar universities right away. Why not take a year to go have that adventure you always wanted, or do some volunteer work. You might not have time to do it later on. I know you love history and are planning on majoring in it, but where do you see that taking you? Try working in the real world for a bit, and get some perspective to base your decisions on. It's a big world out there, so don't limit yourself to what you already know. But then again, if you do decide to go ahead and enroll now, you can always try again if you are not satisfied. After all, that's what I'm doing!

The advice I would give myself is think about the career you want and how it may be affected in the future. Look for as may scholarships and grants as possible. Try to graduate with as little debt as possible because that money you borrowed, you eventually do have to pay it back. Think of loans as a last option. Secondly, learn to save money. For example, there are ways to get used textbooks for a lot cheaper. Ask around. People before you have taken that class before and can guide you which professors to take and if you can borrow their notes/material. Use the school resources. If they offer tutors, use them. You don't know everything and it's okay to ask for help. Another great idea is to go to a community college. Get all the prerequisites out of the way and in the process you don't spend so much money paying for classes you can transfer. Lastly, enjoy your time. Live in the dorms, join activities, make new friends. This is the time to get out of your shell and experience new ideas and cultures.

When I was in high school, I never thought what my future life in college would be. I was busy with getting good grades and preparing for the college during the high school years. Until I really entered the college, I found out college life was way busier and harder than high school life. All my college life must be arranged and planned by myself. I had to decide a certain major and tried the best as I could to pass all the required courses. Therefore, if there are any opportunities I can go back to the past, I will tell the past me that I had better choose the professors whose classes are easy to pass because it not only saves a lot of time and strength but also makes me relax and happy. In addition, I would like to tell the past me to read more novels and practice the writing skills more because writing skill is vitally important in college. I hope the past me will listen to my advice and make the decision to study for a certain major so that I will graduate from college much earlier.

Don't expect too much or make assumptions. People like to tell you that everything will be different (aka better) once you leave high school and go to college. Things will be different, but not always in the way you may expect. You won't magically become a different person and neither will anyone else. And maybe that's ok. It can be lonely sometimes, making the transition, but all you can do is try. The hardest part about college, for me at least, is the social part of it. Don't spend too much time worrying about what other people are doing or what college is "supposed to be like." Life doesn't always go according to plan. Actually life rarely, if ever, goes according to plan. All you can do is try to figure it all out along the way, which is scary and overwhelming. But you'll survive because it's your life and you have control even though it might not always feel like it. Sometimes you have to get lost before you can really find yourself.

Dear, Jamie- You might not think that it's a very big deal or important for you to commit to going directly into college once you've graduated this year, but just trust me. If you wait to go into college it will be much more difficult for you to maintain good grades and much of the information which is still fresh in your mind now, may not be as easily remembered later on down the line! Any areas of difficulty for you would be merely challenging to overcome, as opposed to having them become huge hurdles for you later in life. The knowledge you've aquired during the last four years in high school will come into play as you prepare to attend college straight away. Listen to me on this, I know you better than you know yourself... I've seen how the future unfolds for you, and it has been somewhat of a challenge. It doesnt have to be that way, all you've got to do is stick to the plan. Don't wait to start college, go into it immeadiatly after graduation, Jamie. You won't regret it, I promise you! So, Good Luck!

If I had the chance to go back in time, knowing what I know now about college, I would assure myself that everything would be great! Everything I was doing was on track, and would get me through my first year of college. I would advise myself to start going to the study sessions offered for my biology class as soon as they started. This was the key for a successful second half of my first semester of biology. I would want to make sure to tell myself that taking advantage of all the resources that the school offers is one of the key factors to success as well. "The writing center is your best friend" I would say, "Know that they can help you with any writing piece you could ever need". I would tell myself to make more time to take up yoga or other stress relieving exercises because this would be able to give me a much needed break in between study sessions. Being able to tell myself these things would have helped me adjust quickly, however, it was rewarding not knowing and living the experience of an incoming freshman and anticipating the success in the end.

I would tell myself that "the college life is different from the high school life is different" saying is true. I mean that because of how challenging it was to me to make that transition from high school to college and how to balance my personal life with my academic and social life. I would tell myself to make new changes such as study habits, managing your time, and to gain new friends to help you with your content. Knowing myself, it would be difficult because of the anxiety and that my parents will not be involved with my work anymore, but I would tell my senior self that experience from the real world will improve if my former self would allow it. Finally, I would life to let my past self know that it is okay to see failure in the first semester. I say this because I failed hard in the first semester because of dorm life and study habits, but I learned from this mistake and later better myself in my behaviors. In conclusion, if I would talk to my past self of the college life, I would tell him to get prepared for changes.

As a high school senior, it would have been beneficial to know how different college is than high school. The work load, intensity and difficulty is extremely different than high school, and studying and maintaining good grades is beyond important. I also would have liked to know how much freedom I would have in college to be myself and explore my interests to find something to make a career out of.

I would congratulate my senior self on picking a fantastic university. I would tell myself that we did a good job our first year of college; that we ended the year with a 3.9 GPA and made the Dean’s List for both Fall and Spring semester. I will tell her that she will need to continue to work hard when she gets to college. However, I will tell her not to stress because she will be able to balance school and a social life. I will tell her not to worry about being out of state because she will love Denver. She would feel like she is right at home. I will tell my future self so continue the path she is leading because it has been successful so far.

I would ask myself to really think about what I wanted in a college instead of just picking the obvious choice or the choice that all my friends made. If I could go back I would do more research on the colleges I wanted to attend and explore their financial aid options so I didn't spend so much money my freshmen year. Loans build up after a while and although you think it may be your dream school think about the financial burden you may be putting on yourself. There are other options for school that may be even better in terms of academics and financial aid but you just have to look into those schools. In the end I would tell myself to do more research, I got in to every school I applied to but I don't think I really did the research I should have on the schools that I did get in to, I wish I could go back and redo that.

Of all the things that could be said, what would I say to the younger version of myself about college life? I would have just a few important things to say. Firstly, I would remind the high school me to simply enjoy the college experience, to enjoy the process of learning and to not get too anxious about the future because it's not just about getting through school and getting your degree, but also it's about taking delight in learning. Secondly, I would warn myself not to be too frivolous with my spending or too eager to take out loans because if one is not careful one could end up in serious debt. Lastly, I would instruct the younger me to beware of distractions, distractions that take my focus away from my learning and diminish my level of my excellence as a student—because the extra pains it takes to get an A instead of a B will pay off in the long run. If the younger me would follow this advice, he would be a successful college student with a bright future, and would be in position to achieve great things.