Advice from a (thriving) senior

When I became a freshman, I thought I knew it all. I was confident in my ability to do what needed to be done with no help at all. The advice to keep in constant contact with my advisor was studiously ignored. I mean, who really sits down and talks with a counselor about changes or difficulties in their classes.

I laughed when they told me not to take 8 a.m. classes because I had always been an early morning person. Taking 6 classes didn’t seem difficult because I had been taking 7 classes since 1st grade. Studying was nonexistent because I never had to study in high school.

I wasn’t interested in extracurricular activities because I felt it was a high school thing, and it was time to put away childish things.

I thought I could do it on my own. Freshman year is supposed to be the best year of your college career, and I succeeded in making it my worst.

I wish I had a mentor. Someone who would have guided young, headstrong me in the right direction.

When I said I knew everything, I wish someone would have sat me down and said, “No, you don’t. Let me guide you. Let me teach you.”

First rule of thumb is that although you think you know it all, you actually know nothing. Advisors are an invaluable resource and should definitely be used. Email them. Call them. Most importantly make appointments to sit with them and LISTEN. Let them guide you.

Research your teachers. Everyone has a different teaching style, and it’s important you find the one that works for you. Don’t just take a teacher because someone tells you that they are easy.

I remember being at PREP and deciding which Spanish instructor I would choose. I had already selected a particular teacher because her class time would fit perfectly in the schedule I had made. Before submitting I showed it to one of the workers, and he instructed me to pick another professor because I would never survive that particular teacher because they were uncommonly difficult.

I listened to his advice and selected the teacher he recommended. I admit the class was easy, and I did very well in the class, but I still wish I had taken the harder professor. A hard professor would have forced me to study for the class, and I would have retained way more knowledge of the language and culture.

Talk to your professors. Even if you think that it’s too simple or common knowledge, ask them. I wish I knew how important it was to ask questions. I’ve learned there is no such thing as a stupid question.

I wish I knew how important it was to make friends in every class because those people could become amazing network connections throughout the years.

I wish someone had told me it’s okay to be scared. You are not alone.

I wish I’d paid more attention in University Seminar. I viewed it as an easy A and only did the work required of me, no more. I didn’t listen to their advice or go to the events they suggested because I thought they were useless.

As I enter my senior year of college, I find myself wishing I could have a conversation with my younger self. There are so many things I would like to tell her.

I would tell her it’s okay not to have life all planned out. That freshman year should be renamed the Year of Great Mistakes. I’d want her to know it’s important to take every opportunity that comes her way.

Most of all, I would tell her to follow her dreams and have fun while she is doing it. If I could do it all over again, I would be in any and everything I could.