Voice box: What’s the worst advice someone has given you?

By Willow Symonds & Alejandra Smith
Staff Writer & Contributor

“I got this from friends, but ‘Start dating as soon as possible.’ Their idea was to work on yourself with someone else. I tried that, and it went terrible.” Stosh Zadansy, Broadcast Media Arts

“Just get over it.’ I feel like that’s bad advice – it’s super unhelpful.” Bridget Kelly, Social Work

“No one told me that loans need to be paid off. People kept telling me, ‘Take out a loan! Take out a loan!’ I only later learned about subsidized and unsubsidized loans. … Same thing with grants.” De’Ja Parker, Neuroscience

“A friend told me, ‘Leave the house – don’t tell [your mom] where you’re going.’ I didn’t do it.” Vanessa Jordan, English

“Anything my middle school teachers told me about paying attention in class. Nothing they said mattered because they just complained about their jobs. They tried to teach us things they didn’t care about and we didn’t care about, when we could’ve been doing fun [stuff].” Nelson Portis, 3-D Animation

‘Things don’t matter in the future. Choices today don’t have consequences.’ You probably don’t get that advice much anymore, but when you’re young, kids do that.” Hunter Iott, Accounting

“‘Trust authority figures.’ Or at least, ‘trust ALL authority figures.’ But that’s not the case. Trust is a very broad thing for people. For me, I have to know you to trust you. I don’t think all leaders have everyone’s best interests.” Grant Howe, Health Science

“My dad told me not to date at all. He’s someone who believes people should date to get married, so he told me that the first person I date should be who I marry. I think that’s horrible advice, and I’m not following it.” Ella Spang, WTMC

“Being told ‘it’s okay’ when you lost a loved one, whether they passed away or they just left. … It’s like they’re trying to comfort you but it doesn’t really work.” Zane Newell, Global Studies

“The worst advice I’ve gotten is along the lines of, ‘Don’t follow your dreams and do something practical instead.’ I think I followed that advice for too long, and I missed out on a lot.” Lila Jomaa, WTMC