Goodness Gracious

Can you believe it? Time has just passed so quickly and I nearly cannot believe it. Another semester out of the way and another semester soon to follow as the time just keeps ticking away. But as much as I love being home for the break this period of silence needs to end soon enough or else I might slowly lose my mind. Yes, that means I miss the quaint and subtle lure of the 'burg, however desolate it is currently, I know that in a weeks time I will be back where I belong.

This year I am working on my academic priorities. When I first came to school, I thought that International Relations was the route for me. Stubborn and unwilling to see it at first I picked only prerequisites that would fulfill what I once thought to be a dream. A dream that immediately turned into a nightmare. Not being one to spend my free time watching the local news stories, of other more obscurer countries, I found myself with little to nothing to say. How can you compete with the passion of an IR major? You cant. Realizing quickly that game theory and international actors would never quench my thirst for the worldlier things in life that quickly became a french degree in the making.

But a French degree will get me far if I want to spend my life "selling candy bars from the Kennedy Center whilst living out of a friend's basement" as an alumni of the school quoted the years immediately following her senior graduation. Leading me to wonder what I should do with my life. The luster of the palace at the corner of Ukrop and Jamestown Rd tempts all with its marble foyer and the prestige that follows all those who exit the building. The Business school seemed like the most appropriate option. Seeing as government and IR were quickly both out of the picture. So i proceeded to take the perquisites needed for this new pathway.

Success is attainable, but it demands so much of you. But when grades drop slowly, raising them is hard to do. Some unforeseeable extenuating circumstances arose and every step of the way I was challenged with another obstacle that hindered my grade. For the sake of keeping a long story rather short, I lost a good friend and my GPA took most of the hit. But that doesn't matter to my GPA. It does not possess empathy, not compassion. Rather numbers and statistics. The Dean of Students coupled with the Counseling center probably tried. But little support was felt on the receiving side. And I entered my sophomore year with a GPA of a 3.02.

Oh pardon me if this discourse is too much for you. Talking about your GPA at william and mary is like discussing ones political views or salary with someone you hardly know. A taboo almost. But lets just make a quick point. The overall average GPA of an undergraduate student at william and mary is not posted for the public to see. If you search with google, you simply see written over and over that incoming freshman had nothing less than 4.0s from high school. Nothing less than perfection. Probably possible from a high school. Where AP weight helps to make it realistic. All you really need is hard work. If you work hard in high school you will make the grade. It doesn't take a person with an IQ of 120 to see that. Its your dedication to work that makes a college notice you. But hard work is not enough at a school of this level. And you learn that very quickly. There have been several courses where I have heard the professor say, "you will probably not pass this course with an a". Lets think about the infamous 4.0. Is it possible to attain at any given semester? Yes. For all for years of college? Possible yes, but likely? Not. With each graduating class, you can count the people who had a 4.0 all 4 years on your hands. Most times you only need one hand to do the trick, and most times you don't even lift a single finger.

So with my 3.02 I applied for the business school a whole semester early. For the spring semester they only accept 45 students. You submit your GPA. And for the most part that is it. This year the GPA cut off was a 3.6. An anomaly. A ridiculously high number. Let it be known. I was not accepted into this program. But I was given a second attempt. To reapply for the following semester. So long as I maintained my 3.0 status I was told "Im almost guaranteed a spot" and that a "3.0 should be enough".

So here is the catch 22. You do well the first year. Great. Now the courses get harder. And with each semester that follows the courses increase in difficulty. If you were hit hard one semester, fixing your mistakes only gets more difficult when the classes get harder. Did you tank a 210 class? the next one is 305. Good luck. So I have a 3.02, and if i get anything less than a 3.0 this semester then I am not a viable contender. [Word of advice. Do not take an introductory women's study course unless it is your passion. Imagine being in a room of 30 biased activists of which most have never actually had any formal education other than this "introduction course"to base any of their arguments on.] In the end. The verdict rang and the cumulative GPA is a 2.99.

Never have I been so close. Never have I felt so defeated. But that is the course of life. I will still apply to the business school this semester. This time around applications will be bestowed to 180 students. But we will see. Is it fair to only look at GPA when people are more than just a number. Hell if I had known a year earlier that I wanted to business all I had to do was take easier GER classes that would boost my grade. But instead I wandered about until I mostly finished a french major. so we shall see... and lets hope that the odds are forever in my favor.

until next time...
xoxo -meg

Its strange how as I grow older, I feel younger and younger. It surely doesn't help that I'm the size of a child anyway. But it warms my heart to be living in a freshman dorm again, yet it makes me feel older and older as the days pass. Convocation was this Wednesday and the thrills of the younger students echoed throughout the gardens, only to be engulfed by the screams and chants of the tribe waiting in anticipation to welcome them home. Being able to watch them emerge from the other side of the Wren building was so nostalgic. I remember that day last year as if it was yesterday. But the fact that I was waiting for my girls, it feels weird. Knowing my responsibility to the hall, I simply find myself blessed. So far the residents have been so sweet and have expressed how welcoming I have been to them. I feel successful as an RA. :) Its only been a week with them and this year is looking bright. Alas, thus starts the tough part as this friday night all the festivities start to pick up. I can only hope to encourage them to attend AMP and Sadler events for so long until the appeal of the units sucks them in. My advice as always is to, "keep it classy".

welcome back!

Oh how I missed the aromas of the daily grind as I watch time fly by, feeling suspended in a single moment. It filled my heart when the cashier recognized me and welcomed me back, as, "the grind missed me too". Outside the continuous current of students bound for their first classes of the semester bustle by. It makes me almost sentimental thinking about my first semester nearly a year ago today. Almost. Alas, this first day of classes, I have no classes to attend. My schedule mysteriously ended up leaving me open all the time. Which is a good thing, as being an RA has consumed most of my time in the past two weeks. Orientation has truly drained my energy and I find myself seeking any moment to sleep. But this responsibility of Residence Life really is something I love to do. I see myself in all the new freshman, and I still find myself learning from them. I am hopeful for this new year and its surprises, and I'm excited for all the experiences it will bring. :)