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Making it through

I chose Marygrove College when I went back to school—and am proud of who I've become

By Felicia Davis, 8/17/09

I started college back in the fall of 1992. I was fresh out of high school and did not really understand the level of discipline required to do well in college. As a result, my grades were relatively low, and I constantly dropped classes.

I just wasn’t committed. I did enough just to get by. By 1997, after having been in college for nearly five years, I’d only earned enough credit hours to graduate with an associate degree. Circumstances in my personal life made it necessary for me to leave school. I was out for about three years.

During the years that I was out of school, I realized that I had wasted time. I was so disappointed in myself, but I was determined to get back to school and finish what I started. I came back to school in the summer of 2000. I made sure never to miss a class, and I was never late. I completed every assignment and reading.

Much to my surprise and to my instructor’s, I was the best student in the class and I got an A. I remember once I got to class early, and my teacher who had known me since I was 18 asked, “How did you get so good? I don’t remember you being this good.”

While out of school, I had plenty of time to think about my life and the poor decisions that I had made. I turned my mistakes into lessons and I used that experience to grow and develop so that I could be a better student.

Though I made it back and eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English, it was not an easy task. I constantly struggled with feelings of low self-esteem and intimidation. Many of the students in my classes were young women fresh out of high school who were smart and capable—and they knew it.

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