Need Advice?

As a high school student, many of my academic choices were pretty much made for me based on what my school had to offer. As a college student at a place like Dartmouth, I quickly realized that opportunities for learning were endless. Recognizing that it was ok to be confused about academic choices and feeling comfortable enough to ask for advice was something I definitely struggled with at first. In high school, I didn't have to look very far for advice because I had access to centralized resources like the guidance office and the career center. Not to mention the path to college looked very much like a yellow brick road. In college, things are a lot more complicated and there are far fewer clear paths, if any. I learned that in order to take advantage of the opportunities here, I needed advice from others and in order to get the best advice, I really needed to be proactive. It took me a while, but I finally started speaking with upperclass students, faculty, undergraduate advisors, academic deans, students in my major department, etc. As early as freshman year, I was trying to decide whether to study abroad, intern in DC or complete research for a professor on campus and having a support network of peer-counselors definitely helped me make the right decisions.