Sophomoritis

If Joltin' Joe had just quit when he reached 44, his streak would have been tied by Charlie Hustle

Like DiMaggio, Ripken, and Hershiser before me, my streak is over. Final grade for Pharmacology: 89.25%. In other words, I am no longer a straight-A student.

Last year I began my 7th year of college. I wasn't a great student in the first 6 years, but that was eons ago. I decided to make it count this time. Besides, I would need a 4.0 in my sciences if I wanted to be accepted into the nursing program at UNM. It was literally my only chance. So I busted my hump. I stayed home and studied and read and memorized and turned everything in on time. I became the exceptional student I never was and it felt good.

So, how did this happen? Well, I got accepted into my program at UNM a few weeks ago. I am an alternate for the fall semester, (also known as a fallternate). At the very least, I will begin in January. As someone who never had a science background, this is stupendous news. I am very proud of the work I did, and it puts me on track to complete nursing college a whole year ahead of schedule.

The drawback is that I let my guard down. I didn't sprint to the end of the race. I jogged the last lap, and now I'm paying for it.

None of it matters of course. They're not going to revoke their offer. I am still going to do this the way I wanted to do it. But I feel like I let someone down. I didn't show tenacity. I kind of gave up, and I knew it too. I got a low grade on my previous test because I didn't work hard. I didn't put the time in. It forced me to have to get an almost perfect score on my final exam, and I couldn't do it. I got an A on the final, but it wasn't enough. In other words, I got what I deserved. I earned that B.

I'm not telling you this for your pity. I'm not being melodramatic. I am only stating the hard truth that I am not among the elite 4.0 students anymore, and no matter how hard I fight I will never get there again. Math is funny that way...

One final to go and I don't plan to make the same mistake. Heading into the next phase of education, this may have been a good wake-up call. Now I remember how it feels to underperform. Now I will stay hungry. Time to start a new streak.