Salem Community College Top Questions

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

Patrick

Now that I am in college many problems have come to my attention about my decisions I made when I was a high school senior. As a senior I did not participate in the appliance to colleges just registered for community, telling myself I would go there because it was less expensive, closer, and easier. It occured to me though that I was missing out on an experience that i needed to feel. If anything community college reminded me thoroughly of high school and how the classes were not too challenging and the work load was just busy work, did not count for anything. Then I talked to my friends who were at real colleges, universities. I started to visit them on weekends and see the campus life from the eyes of a student. As I began this journey to other colleges I began to regret my decision of not applying to real colleges, trying harder to get scholarships, grants, and financial aid. The advice I would give myself as a high school senior would be to step it up a notch; which means work harder for better grades, apply for colleges, and apply for scholarships.

Anna

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a high school senoir, now that I have completed my first semester of college, I would have so much knowledge and experience to tell myself to aid in selecting a college and major. One of the most important things I would tell myself is "Anna you need to pursue what's in your heart and what makes you happy verses just following what you parents are pressuring you to do". I unfortunately allowed myself to be persuaded into following a career path and college choice I most likely would have not chosen for myself and now am looking into changing both of those things for myself. I would also reassure my senoir self that I am more then capable of moving out of state and taking care of myself. In choosing a college that was one of my biggest fears but now that I have spent five months living 800 miles away from my family I have the confidence to know I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, a confidence I would have loved to have while selecting a college.