This Is What Rdemption Looks Like!

Ok it's truth time....this is my deepest, darkest secret that only a hand full of people know...I never graduated from Ricks College. Overall I wasn't a very good student & getting good grades was the furthest thing from my mind. I was "dismissed" from Ricks after flunking out my last semester. It's shameful, I know! And it's a secret I've kept to myself all these years! Why on earth would I bust this information out you're asking!? Well, I'll tell you...In May 2000 I received a letter telling me that I had been dismissed from Ricks College.

Last week I received this letter from ISU:

In a word......REDEMPTION!!!

As I've reflected on the huge turn around I've made in my school work I started thinking about how much has gone on in this last year & what I've accomplished. When I actually stopped to list everything out I was pretty impressed with myself. Let's review in order shall we?!

I went back to school. I swore I'd never go back to school ever again. School just wasn't my thing & honestly school has never come easily to me. I don't consider myself to be a typically smart person. I have to work hard to get good grades so most times I'm fine with a B or a C...heck even Ds get degrees! I have no idea what go into me this time around but I HAD to get As! Or I would DIE! My 1st semester back...all As! Including my math class which is no small task. My 2nd semester 3 As...including my math class which is till no small task & I even got a 100% on not 1 but 2 tests! 100%!! I did get 1 B the 2nd semester but with this teacher getting a B is like getting an A! And did I mention that I made the Dean's list!?! REDEMPTION!

12 years ago I was dismissed from Ricks College. After working my butt off at ISU for 2 semesters & after some well worded petitions in February of this year I was re-admitted. After my 2 semesters at ISU I now have everything I need to complete the degree I started at Ricks 15 years ago. In December of this year I will finally graduate from Ricks College. REDEMPTION!!!


I ran a 5K without stopping! I have done 2 previous 5K races but have always had a hard time keeping a decent pace which has caused me to lose steam early in the race & have to walk here & there. This time I was determined to run the entire thing. I finally found a good pace & managed to keep it. As I rounded the last stretch it was almost all at an incline & I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it. How crappy would that have been to have run all that way only to crap out in the last 1/2 mile?! I would have beaten myself up til the end of time!

Me before

This is me crossing the finish line after running the ENTIRE way!

 REDEMPTION!

When I was at Ricks I took Pysch 111 two different times. And both times I got the exact same grade & it wasn't good! Well what do I care I'm never going back to school again....except that I did....and of course I need to get a good grade in that blasted class. I managed to cram this semester long class into about 2 months which by itself is pretty impressive. I took the final the beginning of this week & then grew steadily more crazy as I waited ALL week for my grade to be posted. It occurred to me today that my entire school plan was hanging on the grade I got on that final. Then I started freaking out! Finally my grade got posted this afternoon. It's truth time again.....the 1st time I took Psych 111 I got a D....the 2nd time I took Psych 111 I got another D.....why I can't seem to conquer this class is beyond me....all I needed this time was a C-......I ended up with a B! REDEMPTION!!

So maybe I'm not as lost & aimless as I sometimes think I am!!