Dec. 7, 2015
April Wefler
[email protected]
Six years.
That’s how long I’ve called UCCS my home.
The average student gets their degree in four to five years. By now, I should have started my master’s, but on Dec. 18, I’ll be graduating with my bachelor’s.
When I arrived in August 2009, I had no idea that I’d catch senioritis two months later – a really bad case of senioritis that I would struggle with for the next two and a half years.
I was supposed to graduate in May 2013, but was also supposed to turn in all my essays and attend class.
There were several times I did not finish an assignment and was not able to face my teachers. Once, I stopped attending class altogether.
I didn’t learn until later that professors will often work with you if you don’t finish an essay on time, which I only found out after I had gotten in the habit of meeting essay deadlines.
Finishing essays and attending class was only half of the struggle. The other half was science.
I’ve always been terrible at science. When I would get stressed out over my science class that stress would then affect other classes, even the ones I loved.
There were several times I considered dropping out altogether.
I never really cared about attending college; I wanted to go straight from high school to a career, but I knew that I couldn’t do so without a degree.
I also knew that not graduating would mean I had incurred student loans for nothing.
So I stuck with it.
My dad tried to get me to visit the Counseling Center, but I didn’t want some shrink psychoanalyzing me. I was an excellent student in high school, and I thought that if I could just get it together, I would be so again. I was determined to do it myself, and I succeeded.
I’d had a couple of jobs during freshman and sophomore year, but it wasn’t until I joined The Scribe in October 2011 that I started to become involved on campus. Once that happened, my grades and study habits improved tremendously, except for science.
Weirdly, it was after I stopped caring about my GPA that it improved.
Do I regret not graduating when I was supposed to, or not being a better student sooner? Part of me does, but I also know that if I had, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be in programs such as the Disney College Program last year or work at Disney World.
That experience gave me friends from all over the world.
DCP taught me time management, a skill which I had always found difficult. Learning that skill helped me in my classes, and I am proud to say that I am acing all of them this semester – including science.
I also wouldn’t have worked at The Scribe for four wonderful years, and I wouldn’t have made the friends I have now. I certainly wouldn’t have had some of my favorite professors.
If you’re struggling with classes, please talk to your professors. They really do want to help you, especially if you have any like I do. Don’t be afraid to talk to the counselors, either.
Don’t try to do it on your own.