DD # 15 - GPA - Oh No!

High school was a breeze. I achieved a 3.897 grade point average with minimal effort. I'm not being arrogant as I feel this "achievement" was due more to the standards put forth by my private school education rather than my intellectual superiority. I didn't really have to work terribly hard to "achieve." Not being pushed academically came back to haunt me in my first semester of college. My confidence and bank account took a hit due to an overestimation of my abilities. Being in high school mode, I did next to nothing and expected to succeed just as I had previously. I wish I could blame my addiction to cable television, an amenity I didn't have until college, but sadly, I was to blame for my subpar academic performance. One semester into college, I was rocking a 2.3 GPA. Though my focus increased and I earned 7 consecutive semesters of 3.5+ GPA's to finish my college career with a 3.3, the damage was done. I was forced to settle for a degree I didn't really intend to use. Eventually, this led to thousands of dollars in graduate school credits that I'll be paying off until my own kids are in college.