The Scream (1893) By Edvard Munch
How NOT to Get Kicked Out of College Five things I did to screw up my college career and what I did to get back on track. By Tina Moss I am quite possibly the only student in college history to be given an award for my academic achievements, only to flunk out three years later. You’re probably wondering how something like that even happens. Well, it wasn’t very hard. What was hard was getting back into college. It took me an exhausting three years. I would hope that through me sharing one of the most embarrassing periods of my life at least one person who reads this will decide not to make the same mistakes. So here is a list of five incredibly stupid things I did to get kicked out of school and what you need to do to avoid the same fate.
I skipped class…..a lot! Not going to class is probably the best way to bring your grade down as quickly as possible. Many instructors count absences against your participation grade or have a limit on how many days you can 12
U the Magazine | February-March 2011
miss, go past that number and your grade gets docked dramatically. Not to mention if you don’t attend class, it’s kind of difficult to know what’s going on and catching up missed work is such a pain.
I didn’t talk to my family, advisor, or counselor until the damage was done. Every time I was having an issue, whether personal or academic, I let it get completely out of hand before reaching out for help. Waiting until the last minute to ask for help is probably the worst thing you can do. Personally, embarrassment is what kept me from reaching out to my support systems. I never wanted to admit that I had messed up…again. I was dealing with an unbelievable amount of stress and emotional issues that I was not equipped to deal with alone.
I didn’t utilize campus resources. When I think about the wealth of resources offered by the university that were at my disposal, I’m embarrassed to say I hardly took advantage of them. Tutoring, clubs, specialized programs, leadership opportunities, the list goes on. They are in place to make me a better student, so why would I not make use of them?
Boys, boys, boys! It’s no secret to anyone that knows me that I’m a bit hypersensitive. I’m a Cancer so what do you expect? And I allowed whatever was going on in my relationship to spill over into every other aspect of my life, including my academics. If I was fighting with my boyfriend, my entire day was ruined. That’s not healthy, nor is it a relationship I should have remained in for as long as I did. But I was in love, or so I thought, and he was my everything