What a difference an “A” makes…

I have struggled getting adjusted to the rigor of a real university. My days at community college were more like glorified high school. While it kept me on my toes, there was never any question of whether or not I would pass. If fact, it was always just a question of would I make an “A” in the course. Life at a four year university is not quite so simple. In Spanish, I literally would wonder if I would actually pass the class. (Thankfully, I dropped that this semester, but I will be facing it again come the spring.) After concluding my community college career with a 4.0, I have resigned myself that the world will not end if I make a “B” or even a “C” at Carolina. After summer school my GPA at UNC is 3.42. Blah!! That is so hard to contend with. Sooo, I have really been working hard and this semester isn’t all that I had hoped. First of all, it is VERY frustrating because I have no idea where I stand grade wise in a class. I took 3 quizzes in one class before fall break and we still haven’t gotten one of them back yet. I completely bombed the mid-term in that class because I didn’t read the directions on the test. Yes, that’s right… I barely passed because I didn’t do part of the test because I didn’t read. Dumb, dumb, dumb… Anyway, I’m feeling pretty inadequate about now and some of the girls in my class are sheer genius. I have resigned myself to be content with a “C.” I was really dreading getting my mimesis back. My professor goes through his ritual of reading several students poems aloud in class, and the more he reads the more I am convinced “another one bites the dust.” These poems are funny and witty. Mine is somber and melancholy. He spends the entire class period discussing and reading what brilliance my fellow students have achieved. At the end of class, he quickly passes everyone’s papers back. I wait, and wait… is he ever going to get to me?? Did he lose my poem and I’m going to fail the class for sure?? With the final sheet of paper in his hand he calls “Longoria.” AHHH!! I reach for my paper and almost faint dead away on the spot. I got my first “A” in Armitage’s class and all is well with the world. J