Luck and Determination
- on 06.21.09
- Diary Entry
- 9 Comments
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Dear Diary,
During an advising appointment last fall, I had the pleasure of talking with and helping a very unique young man. He came in to be advised for the spring term and ended up making my day with his unique and almost unbelievable story.
The young man had been in school for four semesters before having to drop out due to his low GPA and lack of funding from his parents. The young man’s parents were disappointed with his GPA and refused to pay tuition and fees for his junior year. The young man understood where his parents were coming from and subsequently did not enroll for the fall semester of his junior year. Instead, he got a full-time job at a local business. He had hopes of returning to school before he could go back. I had seen and heard this type of story numerous times but that was just the beginning of the story for this young man.
The young man was getting gas at a local gas at a local gas station and decided to try his luck on a few two dollar lotto scratch-off tickets. The first couple of tickets were no good, a waste of money…but the last ticket he scratched off was worth $3,000! He couldn’t believe it! Instead of going out and blowing the money on clothes or some other tangible object, the young man cashed the lotto ticket in and re-enrolled in school. He used the $3,000 to pay his tuition, fees, and books for the spring semester. I have never heard of such a thing and hearing his story made my day.
I have since met with him once more this semester to go over his midterm grades and discuss with him how he is progressing through his classes. He seems to be doing pretty well this semester and hopes to continually raise his GPA so he can eventually graduate. Unlike most students who would have given up in the face of adversity, this young man stuck with it. With a little bit of luck and a canyon full of determination, this young man is back in school and I wish him the best. He, along with a myriad of other students is the reason I come to work every day.
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Super story! Our state will begin its first lottery in October, and the proceeds will fund college scholarships. I hope many of our students will benefit from lottery money as successfully as this young man.
i wonder if others in the area knew what he’d done, if there might be some type of scholarship or work-study job to help him in the future. this is a great story!
I had a similar situation but my student was able to return to school from winnings at a local dog track. He has since graduated…moral to the story: gambling isn’t always a bad idea!
THE LAW OF ATTRACTION is what comes to mind when I read your post. Thanks for sharing and congrats to both of you!
Wow…that is a rare student. That’s what you call focus & commitment.
People like him are indeed what keep us going! Love the idea of finding a scholarship for him for future semesters. Blessings on him!
Yes, with all the negative things we hear about students, it’s good to run into students like this who remind us of all the many, many remarkable people we meet everyday.
This is so refreshing! We need more stories about determined students like this young man.