I failed my last final exam that I took as an undergraduate student. I scored a 66%. Honestly, I lost motivation. Plus, the fact that I worked over a 12 hours shift the day before my exam ate into most of the study time that allocated for the exam. I'm not even mad because I sold two cars that day. I passed my final class with a B+! So, I earned an A in all of my college classes except for 3. I earned one B and 2 B+'s. By my calculations, my overall graduating GPA is 3.932! That's high enough for me to graduate Summa Cum Laude, which means I'm graduating in the top 2.5% of the College of Business Administration. Reality of finally being finished comes in emotional waves. Is it weird that I'm so proud of myself that I cry?
I had a meeting with my favorite professor at UCF, Christopher Leo, after my final exam. He was my lab instructor this semester and it was the third class I've taken with him. He does magic tricks... that's how awesome he is. He was also my professor for a class I took my very first semester at UCF when I had a bad flare. When I was seriously considering quitting school, he gave me kind words of encouragement and showed understanding. If it weren't for him, I'm not sure I would have stayed in school. He is one of the very few professor's at UCF that took the time to learn my name. He always made time to talk with me after class. He had confidence that I could make it and that ultimately helped me decide to stick with school through my health issues. We talked about my current position at Classic Mazda and my future with the company. We also talked about a potential plan B for my career. We talked about graduate school. We talked about my strengths, which he considers my biggest strengths to be my interpersonal skills and my drive to do my best at everything I do. He even gave me his cell phone number and said I could call him anytime if I need advice with my career or graduate school. He is also allowing me to use him as a reference. He has confidence that I will find success where ever I go. I awarded him with a certificate of appreciation that I made especially for him. It said:
Be it Known that
Christopher Leo
during the course of my study, through personal sacrifice, selflessness, and without material reward, bestowed the support and understanding without which my graduation would not have been possible. This certificate is hereby conferred to honor and recognize the confidence, guidance, wisdom and assistance freely given in helping me attain this important milestone in my life!
He was so honored to receive this appreciation from me. I wish you could have seen his eyes light up! He is one fantastic professor and I wanted him to know that someone appreciated his passion to teach.
