My Past and Present
I had just recently accepted an adjunct teaching position at a local community college, and I was pretty excited. I had always seen myself as a teacher. I felt like I had met one of my career goals!
The HR department required my transcripts, and when I reflected back on my undergrad grades I was actually shocked. I did way worse in undergrad that I had remembered!
I knew that I flunked statistics (it was at 8 am and it was hard), and I remember having a difficult semester once, but I thought I remembered having better grades. Then I remembered my academic advisor telling me my last year of my undergrad that I probably would not get into grad school with my GPA (I had a 2.7 BTW).
Turns out none of that mattered. Less than a year after college I had work experience and applied to graduate school. I was accepted and 3 years later I graduated with a 4.0, and I am a licensed therapist.
This to me was a great ah-ha moment. The things we think are terrible or life-altering at the moment turn out to not be as bad as we thought in the future. This does not mean that we don’t care about the little failures or discouragements that we receive from others or ourselves, but we set our intentions, learn from the past, and move forward.
What got in my way in the past:
- Distractions/Motivation: I was in a sorority, I had a relationship, I was working 20+ hours a week.
- Sometimes those things seemed more fun or important than school.
- The F-its: If you think things are going downhill it is easy to let them keep rolling because you don’t see the point of trying.
- I felt this way with my stats class. I knew I wasn’t doing well, I kept falling asleep in class. Sometimes I wouldn’t make it to class. And try as I might, I wasn’t understanding it.
- Instead of getting a tutor or going to office hours I just put in the minimal effort to get through the semester.
- Unsure of my path: I had 5 different majors in the 5 years of undergrad…yes, 5 years. That’s what happens when you are indecisive and feel like you don’t know what you are doing.
- I didn’t know where to put all of my energy because I was pointed in too many directions.
- Once I had focus (Psychology) I did great. In fact, I made Dean’s List for the first time in my last year of school. The really crazy part was I didn’t even work as hard that year—but I knew where to put my energy.
Moving Forward:
If you are or were like me and you have ever struggled with any of these issues keep a few things in mind:
- All things are temporary. Picture waves rolling in and rolling out. Some are larger waves than others, and some create damage, but they always roll out to sea.
- Motivation improves when you have the following: A belief in yourself, Others believe in you, You find the fun, and it meets 1 or more personal goals.
- Get focused. Get clear on what you want. We need structure and purpose,
Never give up. Turn to your support system for encouragement and help
If you feel like your stuck in the past and are ready to move forward contact me for a consultation or set up an appointment.
