[angyl_amal]

I've been in college since fall 2008 and my grades have been sketchy pretty much my entire academic life. While in college, my grades got worse and I started failing classes left and right. This was partially because of my personal problems outside of class and partially because I hated most of the classes I was taking. My motivation tanked and I've been in nothing but a downward spiral. I was eventually put on academic probation, which then led to "dismissal" because my GPA got too low to pull back up in a couple of semesters. I went through the workshop they wanted me to attend, submitted a letter to the academic counsel with a plan for getting my grades up, and I was let back into the school. My grades came up slowly and they hovered at the borderline of a 2.0, the minimum before going back onto probation and/or getting kicked out. I am now on academic probation again, just a hair under a 2.0 and today has turned into a disaster.

First off, two of my classes, taught by the same teacher, I haven't been able to monitor my grades online because they're not posted. I have a very bad habit of not getting homework done because of my lack of motivation, detest for the classes, and my personal problems, so I know my grades aren't too good. I just can't tell if I'm in the C range or not. So I've been worried about those classes for a little while. Then, my business class. In my business class (which I also hate), we were given two major projects in the semester. The way the grades are set up, you need both of these in order to pass the class. The first one was to be done individually, which I was just barely able to pull off with a pretty decent grade. The second is a group project with a presentation. We were divided up into groups, each to research different industries, write a report, create a PowerPoint, submit both files by Friday two weeks ago at 5 pm. Presentations began Thursday of last week, my group is up tomorrow. Most of us met up one last time this evening to practice and make sure we will be within our time limit. I text one of our group members that was unable to meet with us to double-check that the PowerPoint was submitted - it wasn't! 50 points out of 150, gone! I checked my grade for this class online and originally thought I was sitting somewhere around a B, but after comparing with my classmate's grades, I'm more at a C - with how many points we have now lost for the presentation, chances are practically guaranteed that I will fail this class (this is also my second time taking it after having a not-so-great teacher over the summer). If I don't pass this semester, my GPA will get lower, again, and I don't know how much time I have left before I get dismissed again....and if I do, I don't think I can get back in....

I am so close to finally graduating, and now I'm pretty much screwed before finals even start next week! I can't fail any more classes! I'm so scared!

[avlady]

you can't tell the outcome just yet,except that your grades will be lower, and you still could pull a C so just relax and do the rest of the work to be done.Worrying about it will make you feel worse, so just do what you have to do, what's left.

[__stellar]

I feel your pain. I'm also having trouble with school. I've never been a great student, high school I passed everything with C's. My first two years of college I took it more seriously and was turning out to be a better student. Now I'm waiting to hear from an advisor to see if I'll be on an academic probation or dismissed. One would think that motivation comes easy because you want that degree, you want to graduate, you want to make others proud of you, and yet time just slips away and then it's too late to fix things. Don't give up! Even if it seems hopeless, give it your all and fight for it. Forget about that past mishaps and work with what you have now. Best of luck!

[TimeEntrance]

Keep your head up, angyl.

Ask yourself how bad is this situation? Perspective does matter.

Of course, your grades and your academic standing is not ideal. We must be honest about that. But you have gotten a sizable chunk of your undergraduate education out of the way. That's an achievement my friend. Feel good about that much and embrace that.

There are millions upon millions of people in the world that are adults and only have a high school education. There are so many millions of children in the developing world that don't have educational attainment passed the 3rd grade. They often toil in abject poverty with a materially grim future ahead of themselves.

So, how can you and I, how can we all in this thread help you to figure out what small steps in the immediate and the long term to take to help resolve this dilemma?

I think first of all, in the immediate, you need to calm yourself down inwardly. Breathe slowly, know the pain and the sorrow and anxiety you feel will only be temporary. The sun literally and figuratively will rise again. The clouds and rain will eventually pass. At least in certain terms. But those small windows of sunshine are enough to reboot your spirit and grab hold of some hope--to pull yourself back up.

If you are young you have plenty of time ahead of yourself to take 1, 2, 3 years off from school and retool yourself. Then you can come back and take on the challenges of school better.

I entered college at age 35 and took only 6 or 9 credits that first semester. And every semester since I've never really taken more than 13 credits during a semester. Many times below 12. Twice or more I took a semester off from school. And I started off at community college, graduated from there, and got into university.

At university I've done poorly in classes often. Mostly my science courses. I'm a biology major and behind on my science courses. But I've struggled with a serious crack cocaine addiction the whole time I've been in college. Somehow, I managed to graduate with honors from community college.

Anyways... I will be getting an F in a science course of mine this semester after unofficially dropping the course. Another science course I officially withdrew from early in the semester when students could still withdraw. And I got a B- in one class for this term and waiting on seeing what I get in the other class I just too my final exam in. If I get a D in it then I imagine with the F I'll be thrown on academic probation for the first time.

Such is life. I don't plan on going back to school during fall. I'm not 100% when I'll return back. And if I do maybe it will just enroll in a single class.

I'm telling you my story--in this very long post (sorry about that)--to hopefully give you a sense that at your [presumably] young age the world is not over.

You have fought a good fight so far. I mean... you kept battling your way through college even though you had serious depression. Basically, your mind was not in the game but you still fought on like a soldier--and a soldier suffering dejection. Feel good in at least that small triumph of having fought so long and so valiantly.

Cheers my friend. We can get through this.

[angyl_amal]

I will be 24 in October, so yes, I am a younger adult. My original plan before graduating high school was to take a year off before starting college so I could take a break and get an idea of what I wanted to do, but we then found out that (at the time, rule's changed a while ago) in order for me to stay on my parents' insurance, I had to be taking at least 12 units and send a copy of my schedule as proof to the people in charge of my dad's work. Now, I don't have that requirement, but if I stay in school, I can still work off of an older calendar year so I don't have to fulfill the ever-changing requirements as the degrees change. If I take time off, I have to go off of the current catalog. Also, with tuition fees rapidly rising, it's better that I stay in school and get it done than to drop out and come back and discover it costs twice as much or more. Add all of this to the fact that my family is waiting for my turn to graduate and that only my mom and sisters know about my bad grades, I really can not leave school before I'm done. I want a break, I need a break, but it's not really an available option for me at the moment. I am at a community college, which does save me some money in the long run, taking these courses for two nearly-identical back-up degrees (at my mom's suggestion) before transferring to another community college (not local) for the degree I really want. After that, I'll work in the field I want and maybe in the future, if needed or if I want, I'll go to a university that we found after I've gained more knowledge and experience. A good plan, but my mental and emotional health are constantly rebelling against me.

An update on my grades and business class: by some miracle, our project and presentation grades did not get docked badly like we were sure would happen and I got a B in the class! The teacher is a bit scatterbrained, so maybe that had her overlook this fact or something, but I passed it and I am absolutely relieved. For the other two classes I mentioned, I got a C in one and did not pass the other. With the B and the C, two bad grades on my record are now repaired and replaced, and despite the new F, my GPA is now over a 2.0! I just need to keep this up so I don't go back down again. I don't feel very accomplished though after telling my mom because the class I failed is only offered in the spring and what we were hoping for was that I'd be ready to graduate this fall, but now it'll have to be in the spring instead. Constantly being reminded of my failures and being asked why I'm messing up only makes me feel much worse, no matter how well-meaning she's trying to be. Last semester, she met up with a teacher we've known since kindergarten and arranged for her to be a tutor for me, but did not tell me until it was already set up. As much as I know I need help and I know I'm a lousy student and I know she means well and wants me to graduate, it still makes me feel worse about myself as a student and I don't appreciate not being asked about my input first. This isn't the first time she's done something involving me without my input or permission too and it's really starting to bother me.

I can't wait until I can graduate and move to the other school so I can start my life over again, transfer my current credits and study what I want to study. But, of course, I have to wait....

[zazamaria]

Hey,

sorry to interject but I would just like to say I hope things work out ok. Im still studying and no matter how much people say itll be fine (i really wanted to hear: "itll get easier") you need to get yourself to relax. I used to walk around university trying to find other people who have written the exam to check their answers. I also flunked my first semester of organic chemistry. There is always a second chance. Good luck