048 What I Wish I’d Known: College Applications

Dave and App State's social media manager Ginny Scheer roam about Sanford Mall interviewing App State students to find out what they wish they had known way back when they were applying to college. Maybe don't procrastinate but chill out and follow your heart while not stressing...something along those lines anyway.  

 

 

Transcript:

Dave 
Hey folks! I'm Dave Blanks from University Communications back with Dave by the Bell. It's October. It's chilly. I'm out here with Ginny. She is the manager of our social media. We're interviewing App State students. We're talking to them about advice during the application process. What do you know now that you wish you knew then?

Ginny Scheer
Mmhmm

Dave 
So we’re out here on Sanford Mall. All right. Well, let's find somebody to talk to.

Sarely Zavala-Duran
I'm Sarely Zavala-Duran I'm from Indian Trail, North Carolina.

Dave 
Saley?

Sarely Zavala-Duran
Sara Lee like the bread company.

Dave 
Sara Lee! Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee! All right. Sara Lee, are you a freshman here at App?   

Sarely Zavala-Duran
Yes.   

Dave 
You are. Okay. Well, when you were trying to choose a college, would there be a piece of advice that you might give to yourself, Sarely?

Sarely Zavala-Duran
Yeah. It’s not that deep, honestly. You make a choice, choose what school you think is right, and if it doesn't work out, just change it. I know people that have dropped out from schools already that didn't like it. Just choose a school and go with it. Don't force yourself, but also just try to enjoy the time that you have here.

Dave 
Nice. But we got you, right? I mean, like, you're officially a Mountaineer and you’re gonna stay?

Sarely Zavala-Duran
Yeah I am! Right here on Sanford!

Group
Roll Neers!

Dave 
Roll Neers! Absolutely. All right. So I guess next, we'll ask you. Hey, what is your name?

Maya Tongue
Maya Tongue.

Dave 
Maya Tongue! Hey, nice to meet you. Where are you from?

Maya Tongue
Canton, Georgia.

Dave 
You heard my question to Saraley.

Maya Tongue
Just know that it like not getting into a college doesn't mean you're stupid. I didn't get into UGA, and, like, that was really hard. But I love it here and I love the people I've met and it just makes me...

Dave 
Look at em! They’re awesome!

Maya Tongue
It’s the right thing. It's meant to be here so...

Dave 
What about this person looking at their phone? Maybe I could talk to them.

Sam Crabtree
My name is Sam Crabtree. I was clueless. All of middle school, all of high school. And it wasn't until senior year when the pandemic hit, when I was like, okay, this is where I want to be.

Dave 
Okay, so if you could talk to yourself back then your senior year.

Sam Crabtree
Don't overthink it and ask for help. There's always people around to offer some advice. I think I was like really scared about jumping into it, but it was a really simple process and as long as I had my parents and I know I could reach out to like admissions people and knew that they would offer some advice.

Dave 
So this is Kaitlyn Witte. Kaitlyn, it's nice to meet you. Where are you from?

Kaitlyn Witte
I'm from Charlotte.

Dave 
Okay, cool. How long have you been here at App?

Kaitlyn Witte
I'm in my freshman year, so only like two months.

Dave 
So if you, Kaitlyn, could go back and give yourself a piece of advice, what would it be?

Kaitlyn Witte
I say just follow what I wanted to do versus what my friends want me to do and where they wanted me to go and just doing it for myself versus my friends.

Dave 
Alleah, Hello.

Alleah Trunzo 
Hi.

Dave 
How's it going?

Alleah Trunzo 
Good! How are you?

Dave 
I'm good.

Dave 
You got some Chick fil A?

Alleah Trunzo 
Sustenance.

Dave 
Need your sustenance.

Dave 
So if you, Alleah, could go back and give yourself some words of wisdom.

Alleah Trunzo 
I knew I wanted to go to an NC public university and I think I really did choose the best one for me because I really do love living here. I think even beyond being a student and just living here as an adult would be really nice.

Dave 
It is nice. I do that all the time, like every day.

Matthew Paulino
My name is Matthew Paulino. I was very stressed. I didn't know if I was going to be able to get into college, but I guess my advice for myself would just be like, calm down, relax, focus on your mental health. Everything is going to be okay and it's going to go great.

Ginny Scheer
What about soccer people?

Dave 
Soccer people? Walk out into the soccer game?

Ginny Scheer
Mmhmm

Dave 
I could do that. Which one? Which one you want to single out?

Marcus Zagorski
Marcus Zagorski.

Dave 
Marcus. Hello. So if you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice, what would you tell yourself?

Marcus Zagorski
Just follow your heart. Don't think about it too much because I love it here. And this is my first choice. And it seems to be like the place that I want to.

Dave 
Nice! It was the right choice.

Marcus Zagorski
Yeah. It was the right choice. Yeah. For sure.

Dave 
So was there something you were worried about when you were coming to college?

Marcus Zagorski
Not really, because in my case, it was different because I lived in New York for 18 years. And this August, me and my family, we moved down to Morganton, which is like an hour from here.

Dave 
It's like one of the boroughs. Totally! Right?

Marcus Zagorski
Yeah uhhhh...No, not at all, actually. But, you know, I have my family, just an hour away and I'm here.

Dave 
Well, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it, Marcus. And I'll let you get back to your soccer.

Marcus Zagorski
Of course.

Dave 
What about this person? Excuse me.

Douglas Landry
Douglas Landry. Just get into it, man. There's so much to do here. There's so many good people here. Extracurricular activities you can get into. It just took me a little while to figure that out. A couple of cold winters and just being like, “Man, what am I going to do?” And so now I'm just busy, busy, busy. But in a good way.

Dave 
Perfect, man. Well, enjoy some music. Why don't you? You know, you could. It's right there.

Douglas Landry
Exactly.

Dave 
Thanks for your answer.

Douglas Landry
Thank you, Dave.

Dave 
Yeah, man. Hey, how are you?

Isabella Thornley
Good how are you?

Dave 
I’m good! Can you tell me your name?

Isabella Thornley
Isabella.

Dave 
So, how long have you been at App?

Isabella Thornley
This is my first year.

Dave 
Cool. Welcome. What piece of advice would you give yourself back then?

Isabella Thornley
Trust your instinct. Go where you feel is right for you. Because when I toured... As soon as I got here, I was like, “Yeah, this is where I’m going to be. Yeah.”

Dave 
What was it about the place when you got on the campus that you were like, “Yes.”

Isabella Thornley
It's just where I feel like I’d thrive. Like it's like my environment, the mountains, like fresh air. There's a lot you can do here.

Dave 
Sure. Thank you, Isabelle. I appreciate it.

Andrew Johnston
Andrew Johnston.

Dave 
What would you tell yourself that could help you back then? What was the process like? Was it smooth?

Andrew Johnston
It was pretty smooth. I just procrastinated everything. I got my App State application in last minute. So, I'd probably just tell myself to not do that. Like to really just be on top of it a bit more.

Dave 
Sure.

Andrew Johnston
Yeah.

Dave 
Thanks for that answer. What is your name?

Serenity Hopkins
Serenity Hopkins.

Dave 
So if you could give yourself a piece of advice, tell yourself something that would help you. What would it be?

Serenity Hopkins
Probably do my essay a little bit before, like the last month that I was due.

Dave 
What does that entail? All right. The essay itself like. What are you doing?

Serenity Hopkins
I did it on, like, my social anxiety and how I overcame it. I can't remember what the question was, but it wasn't, like, super complicated. I was just procrastinating.

Dave 
Well, look at you here. You're doing great. We're interacting socially. Fantastic.

Ian Daniel 
I'm Ian Daniel.

Dave 
Ian, it's nice to meet you.

Ian Daniel 
Nice to meet you, too.

Dave 
Yeah. Yeah. If you could go back and talk to the Ian back then and give him a piece of advice, what would the piece of advice be?

Ian Daniel 
UC Boulder would not be a good fit for you.

Dave
Okay. All right. You were torn.

Ian Daniel 
Yeah, I don't know why I thought that would be fun.

Dave 
So why is App State a good fit for you? I'm assuming it is.

Ian Daniel 
Yeah, I think it is. I didn't really realize how much being, like, able to go home and visit family and home is.

Dave 
So you're not far off.

Ian Daniel 
Yeah. So I live in Charlotte, so that's close. And then I also think that I'm not really like much of a big partygoer, and I think that that would have been like a big part of the culture there. So I like that here. I can like...I have friends that would rather go like sit in the woods, hang out in a hammock, then go....I don't know...to a frat or something.

Dave 
Yeah, absolutely. That's a great answer.

Ian Daniel 
Like the people at App are down to earth like I would like to be or I strive to be.

Dave 
You're coming across like that to me. That's good.

Ian Daniel 
That's good.

Dave 
Yeah. Yeah. Hey, thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.

Ian Daniel 
Yeah of course. Thank you guys!

Dave 
Have a good day.

Ian Daniel 
Yeah, y'all as well.

Dave 
Ginny, we got so many good answers!

Ginny Scheer
So much advice and wisdom. There are a lot of Mountaineers with good heads on their shoulders.

Dave 
I get that vibe, too. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that nobody regretted their decision. Like, hands down, like, we're not editing out all the ones who were like, “ I should have gone to wherever,” you know?

Ginny Scheer
Yeah, but everyone saying, don't overthink it. Yeah. Some people get that magical, glittery feeling, that they know that they’re supposed to be here.

Dave 
Right when they step on campus.

Ginny Scheer
Other people don’t and that's okay.

Dave 
Right? Yeah, it's okay.

Ginny Scheer
Don’t overthink it!

Dave 
That's great advice.

Ginny Scheer
But, trust your gut.

Dave 
Thanks, Ginny!

Ginny Scheer
Yeah.

Dave 
All right. Well, I'm Dave Blanks. This has been Dave by the Bell. See you next time, folks. Bye Ginny.

Ginny Scheer
Bye.