Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for two things today -- second chances and making the most of second chances.

Second semester of her freshman year, M took an introductory psychology class.  For a number of reasons, she didn't do very well.  In fact, she got a C minus.  : /   Initially M thought she might retake the class in an effort to get a better grade and boost her GPA.  As time went by, she seemed to put that idea to the back of her mind.  So far back in fact that she forgot about it until she began to more carefully research entrance requirements for Occupational Therapy masters programs.  That's when she discovered that most programs would not consider applicants who had anything lower than a C in requirements toward the undergraduate major.  Psychology is a required course.

So this semester M enrolled in Introductory Psychology again, but this time she chose to take a hybrid class.  Most of the material was available online and the physical, on-campus class with a TA only met once a week for a recitation session.  On Monday she took her last regular test and did really well.  So well in fact that the 97% she earned in the class means that she doesn't have to take the final exam.

I'm thankful that M had a chance to retake the psychology class.  Under certain circumstances, Purdue allows students to retake a class and, if the student improves their grade, they remove any record of the first attempt -- both enrollment in the class and the lower grade.  Naturally the student's GPA is adjusted accordingly.

I'm also thankful that M took her second chance seriously.  Without the stress and heartbreak she experienced during spring semester '10, I know she would have done better in psychology the first time around.  Two years later she didn't remember much from the first class, so it was as if she really was taking the class for the very first time.  I'm proud of M and happy for her that her dedication and hard work paid off so well.