College of the Sequoias Top Questions

Stop worrying so much about going to a 4-year university and becoming a poor college student! Save money and go to a community college; they allow you to have a more close-knit group of friends and study partners, save money to transfer to a 4-year university, and the classes are much smaller which, in my opinion, makes it much easier to learn from your professor and get one-on-one time to really master the materials at hand. You don't have to be a genius and a jock and a world class musician to go to college, just do what you love and study what you love and college will be a piece of cake. Make great friends and keep them because college is all about peer support and study groups!

Dear Kaysie, Today is the day-your day. It’s your high school graduation. You’re going to wake up tomorrow and you will no longer be a high school senior, but an incoming college freshman. You’re scared, I know. You have too many choices to make. Don’t settle for community college. Don’t settle for the college five miles down the road. Don’t stay in your small, small-minded town to be with the boy you think you’re going to marry and have a family with. Remember how excited you were when you found out you were accepted into your dream college? Go for it. Stop doubting yourself. Stop listening to your parents and your friends. Listen to that voice inside. The voice screaming from that small spot in the middle of your chest. Take the leap and take charge of your own education. Don't settle for anything.

I would tell myself to not think that they have all the answers. If you have trouble in a subject don't just sit in class each day hoping you'll miraculously end up understanding the subject go and get some help from the tutor center or pair up with someone in class who is doing well. Wake up at least an hour or two before you are supposed to leave for class because that will give you enough time to fully wake up and you'll be less apt to fall back asleep. It is even better if you can get some exercise in, like a run, because not only will it get you up and moving, it is also a great stress reducer and will keep you from proving the freshman 15 true.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senior, I would advice myself to always keep a positive attitude and to never give up. Life's never going to be smooth sailing and there are going to be setbacks, downfalls, or tragedies that you may have to experience along the way. That's all the more reason not to settle. You don't always have to make your own mistakes, sometimes it's better to learn from other's experiences and gain perspective on what you would do in a similar situation. At some point, through all of this, you will realize that you are a much stronger person than you could have every imagined. And believe it or not, someone is already looking up to you as a role-model, so act like one.

If I could go back in time, and give myself advice as a high school senior, there are several things I would say to myself. First of all, I would tell myself to be better prepared for what is to come and to give everything I could to my studies. I was a good student in high school, but I didn't put in my full effort and I never really reached my complete potential. Unfortuantely, that attitude of "just getting by" followed me through in my first semester of college. I still did well, but I could have done MUCH better if I would have put in more of an effort with my studying habbits and attendence in my classes. Another bit of advice that i would give myself is to stop procrastinating! I am SUCH a procrastinator, and most of the time that simply sets you up for failure, or near failure in college. Being better prepared and giving myself more time to do homework, projects and studying definately would have made my first semester of college more successful.

Nadia, You are writing you this letter to yourself from the year 2010, and you are in college. The economy is in a recessive state and you are struggling to find a job. So start saving you money now, materiel things grow out of style fast , but a college education does not .Community college is the wisest choice, you will encounter life changing events which will send you on your future path as an educator! I know you have your heart set on medical school, but soon you will find that, monetary reward is not the incentive to look for in a career. Attend tutoring to pass your math class and skip your social life this year, you will thank me later. Do not take any math classes at the summer school session in college, they are too fast paced. Be ready to hang out by yourself at school, to relive boredom bring a book or your IPod- cliques are no more. Do not overload on units, you will fail miserably if you do! Never take a math, English or science classes in the same semester, it?s much too stressful. Never buy new books, they are cheaper online! -Nadia

Life is filled with many obstacles that are hurled at us daily. The recession that is forth coming is a herald of woes to come. Take the path to a junior college and fulfill your education there! You must gain as many scholarships as possible within the time frame of your junior college. Soon your family will suffer from furlough days and mighty pay cuts that will make hardworking students like yourself suffer and in turn, make a four year college seem like a nigh-impossible task. I know your family and your love for them, I know that you would do anything to ease the burdens that they face, to do this?you must apply for scholarships and find work; though this will be difficult as most jobs will be dropped. Joel Strong, I know you?re on the Honor Roll List and you strive hard at everything you do. If you hold your head up high, smile, and become optimistic?everything will be alright. You will be blessed if you stay true to your family, friends, and loved ones if you follow all I have said. Take care friend and remember that I am you from the future.

Sacrifice now while you have time to yourself. Study more, and study hard as if your life depended upon it, because it does. There will always be another party, another day to go to the mall, another day to hang out with friends or talk on the phone all day long. If you just sacrifice now for a small amount of time, then when you?re 28-30 years old you can do any and all of those things on a much higher scale than had you not put forth the effort to complete your dreams and goals today. Take your education serious because it?s the only thing that people cannot take away from you, and it?s the only thing that?s going to get you where you want to be in life, if you do not want to be another STATISTIC. Stop caring about your appearance, your hair, nails, and who?s dating who. That?s nonsense right now. None of those people will help you accomplish your goals in life and not knowing the answers to any of those pondering questions will not kill you. Education is power, it is the ticket to freedom...

I would tell myself to take more notes, and to pay attention better.

I would tell myself to just relax, to not overload myself and to space in classes I'm very interested in with the ones I'm not so interested in. Also I'd tell myself not to be so scared to talk to new people.

When I was a senior at Redwood High in Visalia CA, I was afraid of leaving my home town. I felt like I wasn?t ready to leave my family and church. I thought that if I stayed and attended a community college it would be easier for me. But I was very wrong. So the answer to the question is that if I could go back to my senior year and talk to myself of her future I would encourage her to take the risk and go to a university far away from her home town. I would encourage her to depend on her self and to work hard for her bachelor degree. I would tell her that even when it looks safe to stay in her home town she wouldn?t be able to see what the future holds for her so why not take advantage to apply for scholarships and move for way to a university that will help her work hard for her career. This is what I would tell her.

Don't just go to college for an Associates Degree. Go in for the long haul and go for either a BS or MS. Also don't wed until after college and a successful career. You can date in college, but don't marry that person. Pick something you are passionate about and can see yourself doing for the rest of your life no matter where you might live or want to live. Look into colleges out of state!

The advice I would give myself is to never give up or slack off in any of my classes even if they are easy. My first semester in college I could have done better but I had easy classes, so I thought that I didn't have to work as hard or study that much. In reality you need to study for every class no matter how easy it is. It doesn't hurt to get a really strong letter grade in a class in case you slip on a test or quiz and extra credit is always a plus no matter how hard that extra credit is.

Do not be afraid to take chances, yes you might fail but the experience and the knowledge you will gain is worth the chance of failure. It is alright if you do not know exactly what career you want to reach for because it is okay to change your mind. Try to find something that you are interested in and love doing, rather than because the career makes enough money. It is better to be doing something you love rather than doing something because it makes good money.