Rolla Technical Institute/Center Top Questions

Growing up is either a hit or miss. If you do very well and get into several of the colleges you planned on getting admission into than you hit a homerun; if you risk your position of getting that one letter of congratulations, than you miss. You not only miss your chance of leaving a small town with no hope, but you miss a chance to explore other opportunities that often occur in universities. The advice I would give myself as a senior in high school would be to priories my main goals. To priorities what I want in life as opposed to what I need. My necessities of how I want to further to become a different person that is mature and more focused; to embark journeys that should be taken advantage of and not slip pass me. I would continuously strive for perfection in my work ethic and have commitment towards everything school and non-school related. Most of all I would dedicate more time to my studies that could have potentially made me into a different person than I am today.

The transition from high school to college is not as scary as you think it is. Starting college is like kindergarten all over again. Everyone is really friendly and excited to be at school. Don't worry about not knowing anyone at your new school. Once you make three friends, they each have three friends, and before you know it, everywhere you go you see a friend. Don't get lazy. Keep working hard and apply for scholarships. Get a job that lets you work at least 20 hours a week. Study harder in world geography you'll only have three quizzes to determine your semester grade. Keep trusting God. He leads you on some pretty awesome adventures in the future that I don't want to ruin by telling you about them. Lauren, you do just fine in college. Don't worry so much. It all works out.

If I could go back in time and talk to my high school self I would have couple tips of advice. I would first tell myself to apply you the best that you could, don't slack off and think that this is game. I would tell myself to work hard and not give up until the job was done to the best of my ability. Since I am currently attending community college and want to transfer to a four-year school, I would also tell myself not to think that community college was going to be easy because it wasn't. Lastly, I would tell myself to take it one day at a time and not to rush. I would say take your time there is no hurry to get the job done. I would also say do the job right the first time so you don’t waste time fixing your mistakes.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a highschool senior I would tell my self not to worry about picking a major right away. It's okay to be undecided and to try different classes to figure out what you want to do. I would tell myself to go ahead and graduate highschool early, you have the grades and you're ready to attend college. I would remind myself that going to a community college is not a bad thing and its saves lots of money while I'm figuring out what I want to do with my life. I would say to myself "That American Sign Language class you liked so much; run with it. But take some science classes too, you never know where your love of animals will take you."

There is nothing I would not tell myself about being in college. College life is nothing like how I expected it to be. First I would make sure that I passed my calculus class that I took in college so I would not have to retake it. I would also make sure that I sent for all of my classes to be transferred so I would not have to retake classes. I would also tell myself not to be intimidated by the higher classmen; most of them are really nice. Most of all I would make sure that I prepared myself more, I did not think of college and how much effort it would take and money. I would make sure I spent time applying for more scholarships and studying as well as spending time with my mom. All summer I worked and when I got home I would go straight to my room and since I am far away from her now, I miss spending time with her.

Assuming I could go back and change time and have a conversation with myself I would tell myself to wait to start a family. It is the hardest challenge I think I have ever been faced with in life. Raising teenage daughters and going to school. It is an every day challenge. One thing I would tell myself is that no matter what you do in life above all overcome every obstacle your faced with. never give up thats to easy. Follow your dreams and dont take no for an answer. when you get kicked in the teeth pick yourself up and do it again untill you get it right. thats what I would say to myself.