Wingate, NC
Wingate University

Wingate University is a caring, small, community based campus.

As an upcoming college freshman, I was excited; no one could steal this excitement from me. I could not have been more ready, until I was about ten minutes from Wingate University. There are many thoughts going through my head at this point. The biggest questions I am asking myself are, “Am I going to make any friends at this place,” “What if I do not get along with my roommates?” I only have one word of advice, be yourself! You are going to be in the same position as everyone else; no one has friends at this point and everyone has the first-year jitters. If you are yourself, you will quickly find friends and your roommate(s) will appreciate your identity. Finding your identity during college is a journey in itself, but it all comes easy when you are yourself. Learning to be yourself is the best gift you can give yourself and everyone around you. No one wants to hide behind a mask and feel suffocated. Love yourself for who you are and embrace it! The truth is, the real you is better than the fake you. The first-year jitters are normal, just be yourself!

When I brag about Wingate University, I tend to focus on the genuinely nice people who are always extremely helpful.

Tricia, do not worry about your mom and dad wanting you to go to college right after high school. At this moment, you are not mature enough to decide what you want to study and you lack the confidence needed to survive in the adult world. Focus on getting a good job that will help you grow up and become confident in yourself. When you do get to college, expect a bit of the same thing as grade school. The main difference is you get more freedom, and you decide when to do homework. This will be a good and bad thing. Stick to doing your homework as soon as you can, like you have done before. You will also need to learn how to study well and accept that writing essays are unavoidable. If you do not do well in a class, take it in perspective of the whole picture. Also, try to stick to one major. Changing majors will affect your scholarships and you lose money that way. May I suggest something that will teach elementary children? Trust me, you will love it more than chemistry.

Tven though you have made it through school with good grades its still going to have to strive for work because things are getting hardder so go to college for something that is in high demand. Dont get discouraged on your jouney.

great place for returning adult students to receive their education

I would tell myself to take a deep breath. In high school, the idea of college terrified me, it felt like being thrown into the lion's pit. There were a lot of unexpected things about college that I didn't realize and taking the time to research various schools and classes would have been helpful.

The staff has been incredibly supporting and helpful in every aspect of learning

Wingate is best known for the pharmacy program. They recently opened a new pharmacy building for the Pharmacy Graduate program and thishas brough in a lot of new students. Becsuse this is what our school is well known for the program is pretty competitive so only the top students stand a chance in the program.

If I could go back and tell myself one thing during my senior year, it would be dont take time for granted. Every senior spends their year complaining about how they are ready to be out of school, but truthfully you will wish you had just one more year when this year comes to an end. You will miss all of your friends and the memories that you made, the clubs that you were apart of, and the people that you might never see again. Something that you also need to do in this precious time is learn to manage your time in college this is HUGE. Learn how to study, what study skills work best for you and how you can make the best grades possible. Responsability is also one of the things that you will find to challange you the most, this is key in college because you have to make the responsable decision to do your homework at night and to wake up for school in the morning because your parents arent gonna be there to force you to do it. And most importantly just remember to be you and dont let anyone make you change.

The thing that I would consider to be the worst thing about wingate is that there are a lot of "clicks". This is a problem that you will run into at every school but the reason that this bothers me the most is because if you come into the school not being a part of a click than it is hard to meet new people and it is hard to fit in with people that you dont know because they arent willing to get to know you.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself as a highschool senior I would tell myself that I would have to focus more, and learn not to procrastinate. I would also try to have better study habits, so that it would have been a smoother transition from highschool to college. I would also tell myself not to be so nervous, because everything would work out because there are so many places to get help if I would need it. If I could go back I would tell myself that I would meet new people and that the professors are very helpful. Something I love about college is that the classes are very engaging and fun. I love going to class, and I love the campus. The only other advice I could give myself would be to have fun and enjoy it, because the time passes by extremely fast.

Before I came to Wingate, I wish I had known my way around campus better.

I think the most frustrating thing is the all of the construction going on at school.

Right out of college, I was a perfectionist who felt a lot of pressure to know exactly what I wanted and how to get there. I worked full-time and had little time to myself or to spend with friends. Only after an injury slowed me down did I take the time to explore my interests and create hobbies as well as develop strong friendships. I now know the importance of a balanced lifestyle and that perfection is as rarely necessary as it is achievable. If I could talk to myself as a high school senior, I would play the song “Que Sera Sera” and tell myself to slow down. I would tell the younger version of me that you don’t always have to be driving at full speed – it’s okay to take the time to enjoy the ride.

I would tell myself to as many scholarships as possible. I would've gave myself a pep-talk on being more involved in school in the community. I would have told myself to apply myself a little more as I had the brains to become the valedictorian if I really wanted to. I'd tell myself to volunteer more and always have a smile on! A smile is the best thing a girl can wear right?

Some advice I would give my highschool self is get started on shopping even earlier because you do NOT want to be rushing to get everything done at once. Before packing make a list of what you need and keep adding to the list as you go. Make sure not to cross anything of until it is packed, otherwise it might get left behind. As far as when you actually get to your campus on move-in day, don't worry about living with someone you don't know, just strike up a conversation with your roommate to get tensions out of the room. Also, don't worry about the whole friend-making thing because once you get into orientation, you'll meet plenty of people. Just make sure to strike up some conversations with people and if people say hi to you say hi back and introduce yourself. It's a great way to start a friendship. Hope this helps!

Clarice, dropping out of high school was a great idea. Stay at LCC and talk to the U of O councelors. You can go to university. Your high school counselor is a racist incompetant boob who shouldn't be allowed around children. Save your money, take out loans now before the system crumbles irreparably and there's no one left to help you. Toodles.