South College Top Questions

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

Leah

Take applying to college more serious, also think about what you really want to do in life and what you are good at. Follow your dreams. It's important to have dreams and to work toward acheiving them.

lori

It is a good thing to start college right after graduating high school, however, if you don't feel that you are ready to take the college leap, it is okay to wait. Many times recent high school graduates are sitting in college classes because their parents made them go. These students seem to struggle from the beginning because they are just not ready to begin this journey. The sad thing is that these students end up failing and dropping out. Because of the bad experience, most tend not to go back. It ends up being a waste of time and money. Students who wait a year or two to enroll in college tend to do better. They are more focused and goal oriented.

Debrah

Prepare to take a lot of notes and study. For every hour of class, you should expect 3 hours of study time. Forget going out every weekend...this is for study and writing the papers that you will have in every class. Papers that require extensive research and must be written in APA format. Plan for a well deserved break/vaction at the end of term, when all the finals are completed. The sacrafice made will be worth it.

Christina

I would tell myself to prepare more in terms of getting money for college. I would tell myself "you need to buckle down and look for more scholarships! Your parents can't pay for this all on their own!" I would make sure that my senior year self knew the responsibilites of driving and that she got a license before she went to college so she could be more independent. I would also tell her not to lose her head during the first year of college life and to pay close attention to her teachers and class work instead of paying attention to her boyfriend and friends and taking advantage of the freedom of college.

shailyn

Shailyn, I know how hard you have been working your senior year to do the best you possibly can. I just want to let you know that all of the essays you write, tests you study for, labs you do, nerve wrecking presentations you perform, your perfect attendence and so on, it will all pay off. A Chinese proverb states, "Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." This is very true. Teachers can only do so much, and then the rest is up to you. College is very fast paced and your first freshman quarter is going to be very simular to high school. If you can retain as much information that they are drilling into your brain right now, you will have a great successful start in college. Take plenty of notes because it will help you remember what you are learning. Also, high school notes break subjects down into baby steps; whereas, college notes are more fast paced and straight to the point. You're high school teacher may have explained something in a better way for you to understand than your professor in college. Those old notes will be nice to refer back to.

Alesia

Going to a 2-year college at first has allowed me to take a variety of classes that showed me where my interests lie. Because of this, I know exactly what major I will be pursuing when I transfer to a 4-year school in Fall. I have my life on track--I know exactly what degree I want, what job I'm going for, and I won't give up until I have it. My school isn't the best, but it may have been the best thing for me.

reneisha

Every since I was a child I knew that I wanted to become a nurse. When I graduated from high school in 2007 I enrolled into college right away. My first year (carson-newman) I didn't do so well and I came home (knoxville), but i didn't give up on myself and eventually I changed college and went to national college. I spent two-years there to become a RMA, grauated with a 3.2 GPA, and when I was set to graduate I found out that it wasn't reignally accredited. So I had to start all the way over again(freshman) but this time I went to South College( it is reignally accredited). So throw my whole college experience I learned that you have to be determine, self-effient, and study. College has been so valuable to me because it thought me how to built my character, how to be on time (which is important in the real word), and how to socialize with other people. Not to mention, you get better job opportunities. Although, this is now my third time going back to college, I would trade my college experience for nothing in the world.

Cherie

"Making good choices is a a life experience. Put all of the trivial everyday pleasures and short-term dreams to the side right now and make wise decisions. Know that the romances I have now will be there for good if they're meant to be but that my education can easily fall by the wayside if I don't take advantage of it now. Understand that life is short and that what seems like a lifetime in school right now will seem as only a 'blink' once it's gone and I have a fulfilling and successful career. Realize that if I let this opportunity pass me up without grabbing it, I may be robbing my future family of a better life and a way of living and seeing the world as I want to now. Learn that all good things are worth the work it will take in order to earn the reward and that all good things take time to grow. And remember that nothing will be dealt me that is too big for me to handle and conquer. Make my education 'the present' and and reap the rewards the rest of my life.

Heather

I would deffinetly to tell myself to study more and make better grades. I would say that it is important to have scholarships to help you pay for college because it is very expensive to try and pay for it on your own.

sarah

If i could go back and talk to myself as a high school senior i would tell myself many things. I would tell myself to slow down and not be in such a rush to get out. I would tell myself to value the little things in life. I would tell myself not to stress and that college isn't as big of a stress as i thought. i would take my ACT again and focus on saving money. I wouldn't wait until the last minute for anything . I would tell myself to keep my goal in my sight and strive as hard as possible toward it

Lauren

Wow. What I would give to go back and slap some sense into my head! I would tell myself that there are much more important things in life than boys and clothes. I should have been in a crazy house (exagerating) when I was a teen. The fact that things would settle down and I would find who I am would be on the priority lists of things to say to myself. To focus on what is really important, like actually learning and taking things in, becoming more resourceful and family would be some of the sense I slapped in my head. Overall, I would tell myself to just be myself, relax, and focus on things that actually made sense, like my future. The transition was not very easy going from Highschool to College considering this much. Now, I love college although stressful at times, it is doing wonders for me. Sometimes I wonder if I had to be that young and stupid just to be able to wake up and smell the coffee now.