Since graduation is right around the corner I've been reminiscing about my journey through college. I took English Comp I as one of my very first classes at Valencia. If it wasn't for my Comp I professor, I'm not certain I would have continued my college education. When I started going to Valencia in the Spring of 2009, I went to prove to my twin that I could do things and succeed without her. So, I didn't really have any definite intentions on graduating with my A.A. and I certainly didn't believe I would transfer to UCF to get my undergraduate degree. Well, in one of my conversations with my Comp I professor she gave me advice that certainly led me down the path I'm on today. "Don't sell yourself short" and "Keep your options open" are the two pieces of advice that stuck with me from Professor Sebacher. My first step was switching my major at Valencia from an A.S degree to an A.A. General Studies degree to keep the option of transferring to UCF open, if I decided that was what I wanted to do. When I switched to an A.A., I still had no real intention of actually going to UCF.
I had no real intention to go to UCF until I met Taylor in the Fall of 2011. She also had the 'don't sell yourself short' mentality and she made me believe that I could succeed at UCF. In fact, I registered for 5 classes in the Spring of 2012 at Valencia so that I could graduate from Valencia with her in May 2012 and transfer to UCF in the Fall of 2012. Taylor gave me the reassurance I needed to transfer to UCF with confidence instead of fear and uncertainty. If you would have told me in the Spring of 2009 that I would graduate with my A.A. in General Studies with a 4.0 GPA, I would have called bullshit! I am so glad I listened to that wise professor and kept my options open and now that I'll be graduating from UCF Summa Cum Laude (top 2.5% in the College of Business) I can proudly say I didn't sell myself short. I overcame tons of health issues while still finding success in the classroom. I overcame tons of self doubt to get to where I am today. Heck, at one point I even overcame depression! I never claim to be smart, but I do pride myself in being a hard worker.
I had a customer today that got his undergraduate degree in finance at UCF a few years ago and is now getting ready to take the GMAT to apply for graduate schools. I mentioned my 3.9 GPA and he is convinced that I should take the GMAT and apply to ivy league schools for my Masters. He thinks as long as I score high on the GMAT I'll get in because my GPA is ridiculously high. I don't even know if it's possible or even reasonable to think I could get accepted to an ivy league school. How crazy awesome would that be? It got me thinking... Will I be "selling myself short" if I don't look into this nonsense to see if it's something that I should be considering?
