What I Wish I Knew My Senior year of High School

When I think about my senior year of high school, I think about how stressed and worried I was about my first year of college. There was so much that I didn’t know and so much that I had left to learn. Now that I’m a senior in college, it’s fun to look back and reflect on my time here at DePaul. If I could go back in time, these are some things that I wish I knew when I was a first year student.

You are going to change, sometimes it’s for the best. 

I’ve lived in a relatively small town my entire life and moving to a city as big as Chicago was definitely a big shock for me. I expected to be overwhelmed for a long time, but what I didn’t expect was how much I would change as a result of living in a big city. I used to be the kind of person that would cling to friends and avoid going anywhere alone out of fear of being judged by other people. However, with the help of public transit, I began to develop an independence and new confidence that I didn’t know I had. Running errands, walking around the city and eating alone became activities that I found myself enjoying. 

Everyone changes their major. 

This is something that every first year student needs to hear! When you start college, you are so young and it’s okay to have doubts about what you want to study. Everyone that I know has changed their major or altered it in some way. I wish someone had told me that my concerns were normal and that it wasn’t something that I should be too worried about. 

Asking for help is okay!

This was something that took me a long time to get good at. I am fairly introverted and usually opt for googling and figuring things out on my own when I am unsure about something. Asking questions or reaching out when I need help was something I was really scared of. However, as I became more independent, I learned how to use my professors as resources and ended up really benefiting from their help. All of the professors I’ve had are extremely friendly and want to see students succeed. Not to mention, they’re crucial for networking and are some pretty interesting people to get to know. 

If you’re reading this as a high school senior, I urge you to enjoy the time you have left in high school. College is going to sneak up on you a lot quicker than you think it will. Take each problem day by day, and try not to worry about the bigger picture. I promise that everything will work out the way it’s supposed to. 🙂

– Haedy Gorostieta