FASTrack/Writ 101 Round Table

One piece of advice in which I found value was to not be intimidated. I strongly believe that confidence is essential to success. I also believe that relaxation and stresslessness are key to confidence. It’s not easy to be confident while intimidated, because typical side effects of intimidation include stress and unease. Therefore a surefire way to increase your chance of success must be to exempt yourself from intimidation and remain relaxed as you take on this new challenge that is college.

The second piece of advice that hit home for me was to try new things. Putting yourself “out there” and maintaining an open mind are both important prerequisites to making connections. College is all about connections, whether they be social, educational, occupational, or anything else. I think that without hunger for new experiences, you’ll starve yourself of a majority of the fun that a university has to offer.

I am most excited about all of the new people that I’ll meet at Ole Miss. College is a network of skillsets to be taken advantage of. I’m excited to make life-long connections, meeting people who I can learn with, work with, and build with.

Given the opportunity to mentor a freshman in high school, one thing that I would heavily stress is to separate constructive criticism from trash talk. Many people have heard the phrase “hater’s gonna hate” but not many actually apply it to their perspective of life. I believe that it’s very important to learn when to write people off because this skill can save you a lot of stress especially through high school. In this world, there are people who want to help you, and people who want to tear you down. Be aware of yourself and of others. Take advantage of those who want to help you, and keep your distance from those who don’t.