Seniors graduating this coming spring are reflecting on their last three years as a Red Dragon. Some look back and smile, others, cringe. I got to sit down with one senior student, in particular, to tell me their story, from start to finish.
My freshman year was so incredibly rough. I started off happy and optimistic, and it actually ended incredibly depressing. I was way more interested in anything other than my classes, which obviously resulted in failing just about everything.
But to start, I partied way too much. I completely forgot that I literally am paying thousands and thousands of dollars to be here and I was losing not only my money every time I slept through a class, but my parents’ money as well.
Halfway through my semester-long bender, I had a very personal incident that happened back home and I took it pretty hard. I was failing every class except COR101, had a 1.2-grade point average, and the last thing I wanted to do was admit I needed help.
Inevitably, I was put on academic probation. This kind of whipped me into shape, and showed me that this was a result of all the choices I made.
My sophomore year, was…very chaotic to say the least. This time was in the midst of the pandemic, so everything I enjoyed doing was so strictly…it was limited, to say the least.
Coming off of academic probation my parents were supervising me from two hours away like a hawk, so I was determined to actually try and be a good student. There wasn’t much to do during this period because of COVID and everything, so all my classes were online and it was actually super convenient. I was starting to be mindful of my decisions and slowly grow into a mature adult, but I was easily swayed by peer pressure.
During Halloween, I actually ended up getting suspended because I went to a party that broke the COVID-19 rules, and ended up where I started freshman year. This was a point in my academic career when I felt so incredibly hopeless and like a failure.
Being home though really reset my mind and with the help of my parents, I learned to turn my frustration into energy to do better. In my junior year I ended up being .3 points away from making the dean’s list. I even joined a few clubs and worked as an orientation assistant during the summer. Now a senior, I really, truly, wish that I didn’t waste my first two years as a student.
The senior student went on to explain how many students struggle silently with classes, but also transition into being independent students. For my interviewee, having been through many situations that most consider a failure, they might have given up. For this senior though, they are proof that these unfortunate situations do not mean you are going to fail out or not be successful. Everyone’s college career looks different, and for some, the road is smoother than for others. As cliché as this sounds; never give up, and always speak up.