Western Iowa Tech Community College Top Questions

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

KENNETH

If I could go all the way back to the early to mid eighties I would have force fed myself a major verbal helping of how important school is and how majorly important college is. I have had such a hard time getting employment in the last few years and I know it is because of my lack of education. That is why I am returning to school now. It is much much harder now than I ever thought but I will succeed I know it. I would have hammered away at myself and made it very apparent how very difficult life is without a college education. I have lost my home to foreclosure lost my job been living on park benches and I woukd show myself all of that. I am now barely able to return to school and I hopeful for total success.

Sara

I would tell myself to take scholarships and college options more seriously. I am later in my life than I would prefer to be in college, and had to go through Job Corps in order to afford it. While phlebotomy is a nice place to start in the medical field, it is only a small part of the large umbrella that it encompasses. I would highly encourage myself to pursue nursing earlier in my life, in spite of how difficult it may have seemed at that age. Even though many scholarships require an essay of some sort, it is nothing compared to ruining your credit and student financial aid options that occurs when you take out student loans and don't pay them back in time. I would also highly discourage myself from every taking out a student loan in the first place.

Richard

Make sure to look at your FAFSA carefully and fill out as many scholarships as possible. Also, try not to stress out over the little of things and waste that precious energy.

Rachel

High school is one of the hardest times in a person's life. It?s where a person realizes who they really are; it?s where their choices affect the rest of their lives. If I could go back to high school, I would tell myself multiple things. I would start with the most important; I would tell myself to listen more in school. Explaining that your GPA and ACT score are important, but what?s most important is the information you get out of school. The teachers have so much to teach and you only get that one opportunity to learn it all for free. Second I would go into explaining that caring about what people think isn?t that important. That being yourself, and really discovering who you are is most important. Though I don?t have many regrets, I believe that if I had known these facts; it would have made my life a lot easier and helped during this stage of my life. Even though it would have made it easier, in a way I?m happy for making these mistakes, for by learning from them I know now what to do different in college.

Franchesca

I?m 24 years old now. I dropped out of school after the 1st semester of college. The first thing I would absolutely have to tell high school senor self is, don't major in Biology. It?s too hard and you'll flunk out of college would tell myself "You know what your passion is and has been since you was 6 years old, playing school with you stuffed animals. Fran, major in elementary education and be a teacher.? As for college life, I would have to tell myself to spend less time at BCM and a lot less time socializing with your friends. Studying should be my main priority and that is what my time should be spent on. BCM is still important. You do need to have a little down time, but not all the time. I'd also remind myself that I have chosen to room with one of my good friends which means, I really need to work on compromising with her. I?d tell myself that college is fun, but you?re going to learn and better yourself. You have a choir scholarship and it?s not that hard to blow it.