Back on Track

A few weeks ago I reported that school started roughly for me and I felt unmotivated. After Hurricane Ike, I felt like I had a fresh beginning with which I could regain momentum for the rest of the semester. Well, apparently my slow start was all in my head and was purely a mental fog. I thought I had done poorly on a response paper for one of my senior level classes because on BlackBoard, our school computer system, the grade noted was a 55. I was so crushed. In the past I've made grades this bad when my dad was really sick or I was going through major (MAJOR) personal crisis, but to make a grade like that now when I have learned so much and come so far was a terrible let down. Instead of whining and complaining, you know, more than a reasonable amount, I emailed my prof to see what I could improve on. It turns out, she hadn't graded mine at all because some how when she printed the papers off, mine was skipped. She didn't know why my grade was posted as a 55 but she said she would grade my paper later in the week and let me know how I did. Well, a week later she still hadn't graded it so I emailed her again. This time she did grade it and I made a B+! I prefer numerical grades but I'll take a B+ over failing any day! And since this was my only grade so far, it is still very possible to make an A in the class.

Speaking of A's, I had some more extremely good news this week concerning my grades. Last week I had a grammar test which was so difficult it practically gave me hives. I was never really taught traditional grammar and jumping into college level grammar has been daunting. My mom helped me understand it all better since she teaches grammar herself which was a lifesaver. She even said the sentences were difficult so I felt validated. :o) Anyway, I got the test back Tuesday and I was one of the only ones in the class to get a perfect score! 100! I've never gotten such a high score on a test in college. This was amazing to me. Until....

Until I checked my grade for my religious history exam I had on Thursday. I stressed slightly over this exam because all history tests are hard and this was an essay test which are so subjective. Since I've never had this particular professor, I wasn't sure how he graded. It seems that no matter how well I write, there is something which can be improved upon in an essay test. For this one, we had to complete 5 identifications of key terms, each a paragraph explaining, when, who, significance, etc. The five came from a list of 30 he gave us as a study guide. Then we had to write a full essay for a question he wrote. I was one of the last to turn in my test because I was afraid of leaving something out which always happens to me while writing essay tests. But, apparently that was not the case this time because I made scored 104! I even got the bonus question right! Unquestionably this is the best grade I've ever made on a history exam. I think a major woohoo is in order. WOOHOO!

I'm still waiting on the grade for my last exam of these first rounds. I should get that back today. I don't think I did bad but I'm pretty sure I didn't do as good as I did on my grammar or religious history exams. Then again, I thought I had made a high B or a low A on that history test. You just never know! This is a major success for me. College has been so rough, especially in my personal life. Steven has helped me so much to see what I am capable of and how successful I can be. Plus, he's helped me learn my limits of how much I can handle at once so that I don't spread myself too thin as I have always tended to do.

Apparently, I'm still on track! Thank God! Now if I could just graduate.... :o)