So this is another story simply because I've been reading Chicken Soup for the College Soul. It's a book that's certainly gotten me to think about my own college experiences and I can honestly say I've been able to relate to some of them. For one thing it's gotten me to think about an experience I had when I first transferred to Oklahoma State University back in January 2008. If I were ever to submit a story about college experiences to the editors of Chicken Soup this is one I'd certainly consider.
It was January 2008. I had just transferred to Oklahoma State University. I had moved away from home to an entirely new state and new city. I'd had never experienced moving before now. I'd lived 19 years of my life in my hometown of Alamogordo, New Mexico and hadn't been away from my parents like this before. It was certainly an experience. Luckily, I wasn't too far away from family. I had an older cousin who was coaching the OSU Women's track team at the time. He was the one who had offered me a place to live for a semester when I made my decision to attend classes at the University.
When I transferred, I ended up having to pick up a semester's worth of courses; courses the University required that I hadn't taken at NMSU-A. One of those courses was Biology 1114, Introductory Biology. The course was divided into two parts: a lecture class and a lab. My professor was Dr. Rikin and I couldn't tell you what country he was from. All I know is that from the first day, I knew the class wasn't exactly going to be easy. His accent was strong and made it difficult to understand the lectures. At first I tried really hard to understand what he was saying but eventually I gave up. Not only did I struggle with listening to the professor but I also struggled to understand the course lectures. We had lab groups and were required to sit with our groups during class. We were also allowed to bring laptops to class to take notes. Most times during lectures I would read the O'Colly or work on the Sudoku puzzle or browse the Internet on my laptop if I decided to bring it that day (Interestingly enough it was during one of the lecture classes that I signed up for twitter!). A few times I dozed off (it was a pretty early morning class). It was a fairly big class and the lecture hall was certainly big enough that things like this went generally unnoticed. At first I would try to sit near the first but after awhile I moved toward the back. Mostly because my other group members would sit further back.
I hadn't taken Biology since my freshman year of high school but I clearly don't remember struggling with that class as much as I did with this Biology. I believed I was generally good at Science but apparently not so much with Biology. I did quite well with the labs though. In fact, it was really the only part of the course that I did well on. I was in a group with 3 other guys. Yes, I was the only girl. The other girl that was originally assigned to our group at the beginning of the course had dropped out (never met her either). I was also the oldest of the group (I was a sophomore; they were freshman). The guys didn't take over. On the contrary, I seemed to do more of the actual lab work and understand the experiment better than they did. I was almost fearless compared to them. In fact when one of the lessons involved live mice, I didn't freak out like one of the guys. For me, the lab portion of the course was great! Especially since the TA was pretty great too. His name was Steven Cadenhead. He was a great guy; friendly and very helpful.
While my labs were pretty good, my tests were not. I struggled with the tests. They were all Scantron based/multiple choice. I thought I would understand something but then I would get the answers wrong. I would study and look at the notes and such posted online but still nothing. My test scores were still low. I got frustrated and started to panic. I was on a scholarship and was afraid of losing it if I didn't pass the class. Thankfully my lab grades were keeping my grade up if only just barely.
I didn't know what to do. I always felt that I had done fairly well on the exams after they were over but then I'd get the grade back and feel terrible. Even with the exam grades being curved. The exam before the final came and went. Once again, I hadn't done well. I was destined to just fail the class and I didn't want that. At some point I must have said something to my TA about it because he offered to help me before the final exam. He offered to look over my previous exams and explain where I'd gone wrong. So I started going to him during his office hours and he'd help me out. There were practice tests available on the course website that I would also bring to help me study. For the few weeks leading up to the Final, I would meet with the TA and he would help me better understand. I worked hard and that extra studying seemed to help. The day of the Final arrived and I felt more prepared than I ever had for a Biology exam before. I felt like I knew a good amount of the questions on the exam. After the exam was over, I felt like I had actually done quite well. I didn't trust this feeling too much though since I'd felt that way before. Yet, I felt more hopeful this time. I felt like I might actually do well for once.
The results came and I had passed!! I was so thrilled! My final grade in the course ended up being a B! I was so grateful for help from my TA. If it wasn't for all his help and for me being so willing to accept his help, I don't believe I would have done so well. Of course as soon I got my grade, I had to tell him the next time I saw him! He was proud of what I had accomplished! While part of me suspects that he might have said something to the professor, I really do believe that a lot of it had to do with him helping me studying.
The following semester, I was on the way to another class when I ran into him again. I thanked him again for all he did for me. I'm still thanking him. He helped me get to where I am today and I will never forget that.
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