Most of the time when I go to the mailbox I am greeted by the dreaded bills or junk mail. It is not very often that I am the recipient of something positive or encouraging. Today is the exception to the rule. When we went to the mail box we did not find any bills but we did find some christmas cards and a letter to me from Trident Technical College. I figured that the letter had something to do with financial aid or the spring semester in 2010 so I did not think much about it. When I opened the envelope I was pleasantly surprised. The letter states that I have been nominated to the Deans list for academic excellence for the Fall 2009 semester having had a 3.5 average and completing 12 credits.
I remember how scared I was of going back to school and wondering how I was going to work a full time job and keep up with my school work. The first three weeks was the hardest as I fumbled around trying to figure out how to get organized and worked out a game plan for how I was going to do this. Once I got past the 4 week point the panic started to ease up and I knew what I was going to do and how I was going to do it. The important part of the plan was that I had to be disciplined enough to get the work done. Most of my assignments were due on Sunday which meant that for the most part I had 6 days to get the work done in all four classes. Once I figured that out I was able to schedule the appropriate blocks of time in the evenings and weekend to get the work done. My dear wife having been in graduate school is a pro at this sort of stuff so she helped me get a jump start on the organizational part of things and told me to go for it. I am thankful to my wife for her encouragement and telling me that I can do it. I also appreciate Steve Berry taking the time out to walk me around the campus that first day back in July and giving me the short cuts I needed to get registered for the Fall semester. Steve was successful at motivating me to "just do it." The time for talk was over and it was time to put my plan into action.
I realize that I have only completed one semester out of many. The academic journey will continue and I am determined to my very best because I know that my doing this not only will help me in the future but I also want to be an example for my two teenagers. I am telling my teens that if they hope to have a chance at a bright and sucessful future that will include getting good grades now while they are in high school but they will need to use those good grades to spring board into college so they can get a solid education.
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