High school was very structured for me. I knew exactly when and where I had to be at all times. I basically just had to show up.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. High school graduation marked the downward spiral of my academic career.
I started my college journey at San Jacinto College to get my basic courses out of the way and planned on transitioning to a university. My “plan” did not quite work out the way I thought it would.
I distinctly remember my first semester. Entering as freshman, I had this feeling of freedom – yes, good ol’ freedom- no one telling me what I could and couldn’t do.
This new-found freedom allowed me to pick my own classes and what day and time I wanted to go. Given the choice to go to class or spend time with my friends, I of course chose to be with my friends. Obvious choice, right?
The seriousness of college life didn’t really sink in for me until my first-ever college exam. I felt so ready and confident – until I actually started to take the test. Knock, knock. Who’s there? It was reality, and it wasn’t there to be my friend.
I had taken advantage of my new-found freedom and skipped a few classes here and there. Guess who bombed his first test? Yours truly.
I wish that I could say that this reality check steered me in the right direction and persuaded me to get it together, but, instead, the opposite occurred. I was skipping classes more often, making terrible grades and not managing my free time whatsoever.
After continuing on this downward spiral for a couple of semesters, my parents gave me an ultimatum. Either buckle down and focus on school or focus on finding a new place to live. This ultimatum opened my eyes. The only person I was hurting was myself.
My GPA was absolutely embarrassing. I know, I’ll probably regret telling you this, but I even failed a walking class. Okay, you can laugh now; I do, looking back at how foolish that was.
The first step I took to becoming a better student was realizing that I needed to shape up and make some serious changes.
Time is definitely a gift when you’re in college. Taking advantage of any down time was a great start to getting back on the right path. Most of my free time was spent at a place where I felt comfortable and not constrained; the library became my new best friend, and going there actually helped me get stuff done.
I knew that I would never be able to get into a university with the status of my GPA, so I decided to speak with an adviser for guidance. My adviser gave me many tips on how I could raise my GPA, such as going to class every day, not just when I felt like it, and setting time aside each day to study.
The best tip my adviser gave me was to ask for help. If I found myself struggling, simply asking a professor for help was the way to go. Additionally, every university has designated centers to help strengthen students’ academic needs.
Becoming a better student is not easy. Sleepless nights and missing social events is not fun, but in the long run it’s worth it. By the way, guess who is a senior at UHCL with all A’s and B’s? Yours truly. Although the struggle is ongoing, I can already see the light at the end of this journey.
