Good Grades Addendum – Before and After
First Draft

Final Draft

During the summer of 1999, I received notification that my Arizona Regents Scholarship would not be renewed for my senior year of college. I had exceeded the academic requirements of my scholarship, but the Board of Regents had reallocated its funds. The loss of the scholarship was devastating.

When I told my employer what happened, Sprint PCS promoted me to Sprint Wireless activation team manager. The company also offered to reimburse my school tuition so long as I graduated within one year. I naively believed that I owed a large debt to my employer, and that I should prioritize work over school. I took evening and online classes while working over sixty hours a week as the program manager.

In the middle of my final semester, I became very ill with pneumonia, and the last class I needed to graduate was only offered on campus. I was not excused for illness, even though I provided a doctor’s note, and my absences resulted in a D.

In 2004, I returned to school to pursue a masters of education from Northern Arizona University. While working full-time as a manager at Target, I completed the rigorous course work of thirty-six credits in nine months with a 4.0 GPA. In 2013, I graduated from George Mason University with a graduate-level certificate in integration of technology into schools, also with a 4.0.

Since college, I have learned to prioritize my education. I believe that my graduate transcripts are a truer reflection of my academic potential than my college transcript.

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