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.