I returned to school in 2015 with a new determination to explore possibilities in my life that I had never considered – and also wariness from experiences past. The first time around was scary for me, a homebody bookworm who just wanted to find a career where she could be creative and make money from it. I was also convinced that this was the perfect opportunity to explore things I wasn’t allowed to in high school, like music (and it was!). My experimenting did catch me a career in design, which I loved – but it also ended in some mistakes and failures. It turns out I wasn’t a musician, and it turned out that I had no idea what time management was. My acceptable grades suffered, and I was left with two Fs and an NC.



Ouch.

I returned to college as an adult with some practical skills – time management being one of them - and soon found myself an A student. However, my GPA stood at a lowly 3.1. Many people would not think this is a big deal, but some Honor’s Programs and Dean’s Lists don’t accept anyone with a GPA under 3.5, and some scholarships will be out of reach. Phi Theta Kappa also doesn’t accept a GPA under 3.5.

I know GPA related goals like Honors and such are not by any means the end all be all. However, I didn't want my GPA to stand in the way if I decided to pursue them. Luckily, my school has something called Academic Renewal Without Course Repetition, or Academic Clemency.

My school's policies regarding Academic Renewal are found in the Course Catalog.

Academic Renewal or Clemency is a process that allows students to remove some courses or grades from their GPA consideration after a certain amount of time has passed, especially if those “bad grades” do not reflect their current academic performance. My Counselor alerted me to the information in the Course Catalog from my school that outlined the procedure.

How do you get started?

I gave my completed paperwork to my counselor, and she helped me to understand which classes could and could not be removed from consideration. While my Fs and the NC could be considered, anything a C or above, or grades that were transferred in could not. Within a week I was alerted by email that my request had been approved, and I saw my GPA rise.

Although I know that my GPA is not a complete reflection of me, it was nice to see those numbers rise, like a symbol of the second chance I was giving myself in college. I don’t regret my choices from earlier. I know I’m not going to be a Grammy winner probably ever, and now I can see how much I’ve grown. This only fuels the commitment I’ve made towards the second round of college, and to myself.