Hitting rock bottom…yes, it can happen to a college student too.
With each hardship I’ve learned more about my capabilities. Just like everyone else around me, I never gave the term “rock bottom” any thought until I hit it in Spring 2014. It began in my freshman year of college. Due to personal issues, I missed so many days of class during my Spring semester. I ended up getting a 1.9 GPA, when it’s mandatory to keep your GPA at 2.0. Therefore, I was placed on academic probation for the Fall 2014 semester. I was informed that I must receive a 2.0GPA or better by end of Fall 2014 to get out of academic probation.
I made sure to be focused that whole semester but as the Fall semester progressed, the stressed consumed me. The stress got to a point where I was close to failing my Database class. By the end of the semester, I had many missing assignments and poor exam grades. I never felt so helpless. I was planning to get an unofficial withdrawal from that class but to my luck, I missed the deadline. From Friday to Monday morning, I went through severe depression because I was so sure that I will be on academic suspension. But to my surprise, my advisor called me on Monday morning asked to meet with her. She came into office just to speak to me, even though she was fighting a cold. She told me to speak to my Database professor and ask for an Incomplete. Later I met with my professor and found a way to get my grades the following semester. An Incomplete allowed me to continue the following semester and submit the assignments via emails and take the final exam with his Spring 2015 class. That Spring 2015 was the third stressful semester. I have never worked harder in my academic life. I went to our campus tutors and was in constant contact with the professor. I reached out to all possible help in order for me to pass that class. To my surprise I passed the class, receiving more than what I thought I would.
Why did I just vent out to you? Well….
The reason I share my story because it made me who I’m today. I hit rock bottom, yet I found my way back up. The following year I was inducted into History Honor Society, got placed on President’s List, and Dean’s List. I got back better than I was before. It made me realize who I’m as a person and as a student. These three semester of struggle gave me an unbeatable self-confidence and got me out of my shell.
Getting out of the invisibility cloak (excuse the Harry Potter reference)
My advisor encouraged me to apply for Rambassadors Leadership Program. Until that point I wasn’t involved in any campus activities. I spent three semesters stressing over academics and failed to take part in any activities. I remember going into my interview and telling the interviewers: “I want to be a Rambassador so I can learn more about our campus, because I didn’t know anything until few months ago.” I got accepted into the program and within months I found ways to learn more about the campus.
Rambassdors Leadership Program paved the way for me to be a well-rounded student. I learned to manage time, work, home and academics. I developed my leadership and verbal communication skills within one academic year due to my involvement in this program. Now I’m in my Fall 2016 semester as an Intern at Long Island Cares Inc.; a member of History Honor Society; Secretary of Student Government Association; Executive Board for South Asian Student Association, Farmingdale Fusion, and Social Justice Club; voting member of ASC Committee and Chancellor Award Committee. Thus, I ended up working with Admissions, Dean of Students, Students Activities, and the President’s Office. All these were possible within one year after my academic probation.
So what the whole point to this story? Well, what doesn’t kill you make you stronger.
I’m not sharing this story to brag about myself. I want you all to know that if I were to quit after my second semester then I wouldn’t have been here. The journey was long and stressful yet the destination turned out to be more than I expected. If I can manage to succeed in my circumstance then I have no doubt that you can succeed as well. Our college has everything a student needs to succeed. I won’t be here if it wasn’t for my advisor who came to speak to me when she was fighting a severe cold, my professor who replied to my emails at 1am or my college tutor who met with me whenever I needed help. We are a campus that works to improve the lives of students. As a Rambassador and an Orientation Leader, I have told students that “FSC has everything for you to succeed. It is up to you to the step to finding what you need. Our advisors won’t give up on you so easily and our professors don’t want you to fail.” Now to you, my readers, just remember the good thing about hitting rock bottom is that the only way to go is, up.