• The Complexities of Life

    Life: The Remix

    Image via Pinterest.

    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.*

     

  • The Complexities of Life

    Applaud the Struggle

    Image via Pinterest.

    A friend of mine was tweeting about her upcoming December graduation. She mentioned that it felt like she had been in college forever. After congratulating her on seeing the light at the end of that very, very long tunnel, my spirit was moved to tweet out some words of encouragement.

     

     

    There are so many detours in your way, that you lose sight of your path of travel. I was a freshman in 2000 but I spent so much time not going to classes that I was voted off the academic island in 2002. Even though I was suspended from attending any four-year institution for five years, I didn’t let that discourage me from my goal of finishing school before I turned 30.

    So I enrolled in community college as a part-time student  May 2003. While working full-time, I graduated July 2007. Yes, it took me four years and two months to finish community college. But you know what? I finished and that’s all that matters. By the time I graduated, my suspension period was over. I applied for admission in a four-year university for the Fall 2008 semester.

    I got accepted. At the time, I was 27 years old.

    I carried a full course load Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Summer 2009, and Fall 2009. Insane doesn’t even begin to describe my physical and mental state during that time. Stress from the course load made me sick every semester. At some point, I had surgery on my wrist, came home, and wrote an essay that was due that evening. Don’t judge me.

    On December 19, 2009 at 2 p.m. EST, I graduated from Old Dominion University. I was 27 years old.

    I’m thankful everyday that I went through this. Without struggle, I wouldn’t be aware of my own strength.

    And that, ladies and gentleman, is worthy of an applause.

     

     

     

  • Love, Dating, & Relationships

    Relationship Accreditation

    How awesome would it be if relationships were accredited?

    Colleges and universities are accredited by multiple organizations. Multiple factors are involved in order for the institution to maintain its accreditation (e.g., reputation of faculty, quality of education, objectives and/or goals, etc).

    In relationships, individuals would be given an accreditation rating ranging from 1 (awful) to 5 (awesome) based on various factors (e.g., stability, past relationship behavior, drive, etc).

    To calculate the relationship accreditation, add up the individual ratings and take the average of the sum.  For example,  if a 4 entered a relationship with a 5, their sum would be a 9, which would make the relationship accreditation a 4.5.  What’s great about knowing someone’s individual accreditation is that you would know ahead of time that you could be dealing with potential awesomeness (or a nightmare).

    Talk about potential peace in the valley.