Arizona Western College Top Questions

What should every freshman at your school know before they start?

Anel

Now that I passed high school and currently a college student I would recommend not to lay it off because those four high years pass like in a blink. Keep good grades and apply for scholarships right away. I would advice myself not to give up. My family is low income which is makes it harder, but with effort everything is possible. Even if you didn't do well with my high school grades you should never give up on education. Get your grades up and accomplish all your goals.

Leila

HONEST NITTY GRITTY101: Advice to my high school self would be: do your best in your studies, get involved in the community, keep contact with friends and family and APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS! As far as college life now, nothing has really changed from that which takes place at the high school campus; you have your same clubs, cliches, and maybe even food. However on thing that has changed is MONEY! The need for cash in oder to pay for your tuition, books, supplies, etc. You didnt't have to worry about that in high school because it was provided (italicized). If anything, some things I regret not doing in high school was that listed above at the beginning of this paragraph. If you want to remain mentally, emotionally, and physically stable throughout highschool and college--follow this advice: do your best in your studies, get involved in the community, keep contact with friends and family and APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!

joana

Please do not be afraid have the courage to take a chance. Do not be afraid to fail in college because you are smart enough to make it. Do not lose your focus because your chance to succeed can slip away.

Edward

Whether with a plan or not, changes will occur. The reality from changing a class to changing a major. Yet in order to be more prepared then I am now, I would stress the importance of starting to build up scholarship funds. Everything else I'll leave out, to keep the experience of college life true.

Michael

Only if I really could go back. The transition from highschool to college was very difficult for me. I was not an academically goal oriented student throughout my highschool years. Didn't have someone to push me as I wish they did now. Being a son of a single mom and a big brother gave me a lot of other responsibilities. Not knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life did not help in why I was going to college. All I thought about was basketball; I loved the sport so much, that school didn't really come as a priority to me in life. I loved college because of how the professor's did not care what so ever as to if I went to class or not. I still had that high school attitude. The day it hit me is when I hurt my knee playing basketball, which made me see things a lot different than I did in highschool. Started out college with a 2.2 GPA and am now at a 2.98 GPA majoring in engineering, transferring to the University of Arizona this August, and working as an engineering intern.

Amber

Dear Self, You might be shocked to be hearing from your future self but you are one lucky girl. You get the opportunity to learn from your mistakes before you make them. Please listen carefully to what I am about to tell you. It could alter the course of your future in an incredibly rewarding way. Don?t get me wrong, every trial you face builds your character but I am hoping that by following my advice you will face different challenges that will shorten your time to success. First, I strongly advise you to ignore the hormones screaming at you. Intimate relationships can wait and statistically you will have a stronger chance of survival. Besides that, you won?t have time for loneliness and don?t need distractions because I want you to know now that college is NOT out of reach for you. No one has informed you about this but there are so many unused scholarships out there just waiting to be won by you. They may not always be easy to find but it is worth the hunt. Start with the library, college advisors and the internet. Start hunting and keep your eye on the prize!

Mindy

Plan for your future. Even if you have good grades and are in the top percent of your class, you need to be active in planning for the road ahead. Apply to many schools. Apply for every scholarship. It's okay if you aren't sure what you want to do with your life, it will come to you. In the mean time, explore different careers. Your professors in college will treat you as an adult. They won' be reminding you of deadlines and you won't get any sympathy or slack if you fall behind as a result of your own carelessness. Now is the time to take charge of your own education. Learn anything someone is willing to teach you. Learn patience. Learn how to budget. Set goals for yourself and write them down. Look at those goals when you aren't happy with the struggles you are facing to get them. Even if it takes you a little longer than some, you will get to where you want to be, and all of this will be worth it.

Abraham

If I could go back in time to advise how to go throughout my four years in high school, I would mention two main decisions I should make. The first point would be that I should focus on taking honor classes. At the time, I entered into high school with one honor class, Algebra I Honors. Instead of taking regular English and regular sciences, I should have talked to the counselor so that I could enroll in those classes. The honor program fell, but the main focus for the honor classes would be to try to get into AP classes my senior year to increase my GPA. The second advice would be to demand to be placed in Calculus AP without taking my second summer session at Arizona Western College. My sophomore summer, I took Precalculus at the college, which was enough to skip geometry, but my counselor convinced me to stay in that class and take one more summer session of math to get into Calculus. I did so, but it was a horrible mistake, becuase I had forgotten all the topics covered last summer and did poorly that summer. I only just wish I could go back.

Idiannette

Don't be scared to be yourself when you get to college. I made the mistake of slacking off a little my last semester of high school. I would want to go back to the very first day of my senior year and tell myself to pretend like this is any other year. I didnt get to go to a big State University like my friends did who got into Florida State, University of Miami and the University of Florida because that last semester I felt like I was done and it didn't matter if I did as god as my other years of school. I remember I was scared that I wouldn't make it to college like everyone else in my family and I puit myself down that last semester. The best advice to myself would have been this, hold on a little long and you will be successfull, you will get the chance at college. Be yourself when you get there, trust me they are going to love you in college, just be honest to yourself about what you want in life.

Juan

I would tell myself to concentrate on the two most important things which are school and keeping a balance with everything that will be juggled as I go through the experience. I would tell myself to relax, because college is an experience unlike any other. You find yourself as an individual, but also we can lose ourselves in some of the lifestyles. But most of all be patient because no matter how fast we go we need to slow down to go faster.

Jesse

I had thought about this many many times. Throughtout my senior year I believed that college would be a walk in the park. I am the type of person that is able to barely show up to a class and do one homework assigment and pass with at least a C. So as a senior I thought that college would be the same and was under the assumption that C's were no big deal. Damn was I wrong... C's at college affect you and now I'm at least six months behind schedule because my GPA is not at least 2.5! So if i were to see myself as a senior I would dictate myself to develop good study habits, and to get off my lazy behind and stop taking things lightly. I would have never thought just how beneficial proper study skills can be.

Kendall

If I were able to go back to my senior year and change things, I would change the way I handled my studies and I would have gotten more involved in school activities. I did well in high school but if I knew what I do now I would have studies more and tried harder. I would have also taken more college courses while still in high school. That would have given me more of a head start. As far as getting involved more in school activities, I feel that it would have opened my eyes to different people, and different ways of life. It would have also helped me in college to have a better understand and be more involved in my school.

Jennifer

The best advise I could possibly give myself is to start researching and applying for aid and colleges while still in high school and not to wait to start college but instead to start right after graduation. I found out by waiting for a semester to start college, that time goes by so fast and that one semester turns into a year. So that year that went by could have been a year in college completed already. So I would go back and tell myself "Don't Wait, Start College as Soon As You Can."

Aaron

Before one can answer, they must truly analyze the question, and quetion the question itself. This question pertains to time travel, which most might find laughable, but is actually quite real, however this form of time travel mentioned above is impropable. According to quantum physics and the parrallel universes theory, traveling "back" in time, as if to hit rewind on a movie, is the wrong way to view both time travel and time itself. All events of the past, present, and future are happening simulaneously, and continuously with no end. My whole senior year is taking place right now in different universes, every second of it. So, for me to travel to my senior year, I would not travel "back," but rather sideways, to a parrallel univers where I am a senior in high school. So, if i could travel to a parrallel universe, where I would find an additional "me," I would tell him nothing, and even if I did, it would make no difference. You see, if I did say something to my other "self," "his" future and "my" future would not be the same, for he would live out one future, and I another.

rene

the only thing that i know is that going to college is a good decision although that taking classes could maybe transfer to a school you would like to go going to college help someone achive in what they whant to study in there future in other cases fanancial aid is avaialbe for those who quailfy it help to pay for the college expenses there is schalarship to that could help or work in a school such as work study to help pay expenses to there is other thing that could help you pay for college you just need to find out how.

Isabel

Do not assume that there are not any programs for assisting first generation students. Get involved with programs or clubs and do not be afraid to make new friends. The college staff is friendly and are always willing to assist you with any goals. In order to succeed as a freshman I strongly suggest taking an orientation class to aid in the transition of college life and college leveled classes. Make sure to always manage your time wisely for study time, homework, and fun. Do all this and you are sure to succeed.

America

Well, for me this is an easy question, because i am Mexican,American and something that I would really like if I was back in time is know better english. I know I can speak, write and read very well now but, back then it was something very hard for me. Today I am proud of me because i can dominate english pretty good. So, something that I would like to do was been in US, schools instead of Mexico. But this is not all, I have something else that I would like to be ding if I went back and it was participate more in extracurricular activities because I think that was something that it would help out with my development as student. Instead of that, I think I was a good student.

Rachel

i would defiantly be more organized. I am the type of person that will not go out until my homework is done and sometimes it gets me very frusterated. Also, if I knew how expensive college was and how hard it is to pay for it I would have applied for every schoroloship possible that the High School offered me.

Benjamin

I would tell myself what classes i need to take. I would also tell myself to join the marine corps just as i have already done because it did more to help me prepare for college than anything else did.

Jessica

If I could go back in time, I would tell myself not to slack off with class work, not to take extra shifts at work, and that the move from Peculiar, MO to Yuma, AZ is the best move you could ever make. First, I would tell my self not to slack off because slacking off only hurts you. College is much harder so plan accordingly don't take to many general education classes at once. Second, I would tell not to take on extra shifts at work because senior year is supposed to be fun. You will regret not going to prom, not hanging out with friends, and not leting your feelings known tords they guy you had a crush on since 6th grade. Finally, moving is the best thing you could ever do. Moving opens up many opportunities for you and your sons. They boys dad doesn't change things between you and him get even more complicated then they already are. Inconclusion, If i could go back in time I would let myself not to slack off, don't take extra shifts at work, and moving to Yuma is the best move you could ever make.