Not-So-Sad Semester

It's hard for me to believe that I have only two weeks left for the fall semester. Even knowing that it always seems like semesters go by much quicker in college than they did in high school, this one still seems fast. Pretty soon the fall of 2008 will be history and I will continue my journey towards a bachelor's degree with a new slate of classes to take.

The last few months have actually gone much better than I expected. This semester has gone by with absolutely no burnout and very little stress. Since both of these conditions are as common to college as textbooks, this comes as a major surprise. I haven't even thought about changing my major, and if anything I am more reassured that I have made the right choice. For the longest time, I changed my mind on what I wanted to do literally every few days. I never was sure about anything, but now I wake up in the morning and I look forward to studying history. What could be more reassuring than that?

I think taking a year off really made all the difference. A person can't get through college without motivation, and back then I didn't have very much of that. I found excuses to not go to class, put assignments off for way too long, cut corners, and never studied. I developed a lot of bad habits, and while I was never a bad student, I was never a good one. After I realized I had been to college for 3 years and had little to show for it, spent over a year working a job that I didn't like, and saw my high school peers graduating and going on to bigger and better things while I was left working at a thrift store I obviously gained my much-needed motivation.

And it worked. I made up my mind that it was time to grow up, time to own up to my responsibilities. A specific turning point that set my head straight was the day that I found out my financial aid fell through and I wouldn't be able to attend UAH this year. I took lunch that day and walked over to Jack's, frustrated and disappointed. Nothing had gone right for me. I sat there and, upon realizing that I would be taking a step back to community college for a year, made up my mind to not settle for anything less than excellence. For the first time in my life I actually set a goal: A's in every class. I told myself that the subjects I would take that fall would become my life focus.

Looking back on it now, I may not actually reach that goal, but I am going to be very close. Some people just learn things the hard way. And I know that this semester I've made some mistakes. Sometimes I neglected my studies, sometimes I procrastinated too much. Other times I let my mind wander in class, I got lazy, I let myself lose focus. But it encourages me that I've been able to correct a lot of problems I had before and, even with my mistakes, I'm still doing very well.

So on that day (if and when it ever comes) I get my degree, I am going to be very happy. I may be up to my neck in debt for college loans, but I will still be happy. It will be worth it.