We don’t always get it right the first time around.

I would like to believe that we have all failed at something at one point in our lives. Skipping classes to be social resulted in me flunking out of school Spring 2002. Since I was still on academic probation, I was banned from attending any four-year college/university for five years.

After sophomore year, I enrolled in my local community college to start classes the Summer 2007 semester. I took classes part-time while I was working full-time, but I graduated from community college July 2007. My five-year ban ended around that same time.

At this time, I was 26 and determined to have my bachelor’s degree before I turned 30. I submitted my admissions application to Old Dominion University to enroll for the Fall 2008 semester. I remember being riddled with anxiety while I waited for a response. That ban and my grades at the time of the ban felt like a black eye that wouldn’t clear up, regardless of my associates degree.

I got that acceptance letter and all my anxiety disappeared.

I busted my ass at ODU. Carried a full-time schedule Fall 2008 and Spring/Summer/Fall 2009 while working a 40 hour job.  My health was in shambles from sleep deprivation, but this was my last chance and I was holding to it for dear life. This is it for me. Do or die. Sink or swim.

A good night’s sleep came the day I found out my graduation application was approved. All of that hard work and lack of sleep had paid off. I made good on that second chance.

Words can’t explain how it feels to get a second chance. You do everything you can to make sure that you will not blow it this time. Second chances aren’t guaranteed and third chances are nearly impossible. When given the opportunity to try again, take it and prepare to run…all the way to the finish line.

*This post is dedicated to my sister, who got her second chance to get it right.*