..Got some learnin' to do...

I have always loved school. My favorite subjects in school were english, speech, literature, social studies, creative writing and photography. I also read a lot. Reading was an escape for me. A time to be in a different world away from where ever I was at the time...My grades rarely reflected all the knowledge I was gaining. If you went off just grades...I would have to admit that I was a pretty mediocre student. I didn't mean to be..I tried hard in my classes..but I was easily distracted and bored in a traditional lecture setting. At the time it wasn't such a big deal to me because I got through middle school and high school. I had to appeal to get into BYU Hawaii because my GPA was low but I got in. Unfortunately the same struggles I had previously, followed me into college. I was easily distracted and did not do well when my exams were in the testing center...but I got through it. Again, No big deal right? WRONG!!!! Last year I had tried to get into grad school at the University of Utah.

I didn't get in. I was devastated. My main reason for moving to Utah was to go to grad school.

So I went up to the U to speak to someone on the admissions board. I wanted to know why I didn't get in so that I could reapply this year...she told me my application was "impressive", my references and essays were "fabulous"...they just needed to be longer..but other than that my application was great...so what was the problem?

My GPA was a 2.95 and they needed it to be a 3.0. That killed me...I was a half a point off???!!!! Frustrated but not defeated I asked for advice on what to do. Her suggestion was to take a standardized test, beef up my essays then resubmit my application. So I decided to take the Millers Analogy Test (MAT)...so here is an example of one of the questions..

1. Hobbes : Locke :: Byron : (a. Shelley, b. Picasso, c. Mantle, d. Bach)

So the point is to find how all the words relate and then to see which word would best fit into the relationship. (yup even as I typed that last sentence all I heard was "blah blah blah") :)



So I am going to take the test the first week in October. This will give me some time to study and to make sure my essays are on point, before I submit my application again.

MY GPA DOES NOT DEFINE MY INTELLIGENCE

But the score on this test is the deciding factor on whether I get into the U. I need to do well if I'm going to get in....and I NEED to get into grad school. WHY??? Because I believe It will help provide and teach me the skills, techniques and knowledge I need to be the best counselor/ social worker/ program manager etc.,that I can be and......I want to be the best. My clients and staff deserve the best from me and I can't settle for being mediocre in a job that I love.

So it's crunch time...I'm excited about learning and getting pushed outside of my comfort zone....It's definitely not going to be easy. I know I have certain difficulties that I'll need to overcome. I also have some challenges in regards to my memorization and also my attention span really needs to improve, but I know I can do this! I bought 2 dictionaries, 1 vocabulary builder and I'm working on my flash cards...yup folks...I said Flash Cards :)Wish me luck!!!