College - Thoughts - Suspension - ADD

[Jonathan Meer]

So I'm at risk of being suspended from my college because I was one short of the required number of chapels this last semester (25 out of 26). This is my fourth deficient semester (the others being 21 out of 28, 24 out of 28 and 25 out of 28 ).

The critical chapel I missed was on this last Monday, which would have put me at 26 out of 26, and which I slept through. The reason? My alarm clock never went off.

I e-mailed the Vice-President to see what would happen as a result of this, and she said she'd look into my file as to whether or not I can expect a hearing on my 'conduct'.

Which sucks immensely, because I happen to like my college.

On a different but somewhat related note, I've finally figured out what it is I want to do and can do: teach philosophy (like, professorally). I'm still set as a ministerial student, but I'll probably be removing that status here shortly. I've been talking to my German professor over the last few weeks about my difficulties in focusing on class and getting work done, and telling her about my ADD, and my concerns about medication, and she told me about a few professors at my college (without naming names) that had their careers saved by meds. So, now I'm rather optimistic about it, and will be looking into it over break.

I'm meeting with my Philosophy professor (a guy that graduated from Notre Dame, and could probably TEACH there, as brilliant as he is) tomorrow afternoon about these same concerns, and about grad school. He's rather encouraging about this route, and about those difficulties I've got as well. So I'm feeling rather good about my future in this direction.

And then, I get hit by this alarm clock fiasco. As it stands, I've got a lot of things going against me for this route (my cumulative GPA is 2.5, which is the definition of sub-par, though I tend to get A's in my 400-level philosophy classes, and poor grades in easy classes; financial woes too). If I get suspended, I have no idea what that will do for my future college career.

I'll clearly have to transfer out; if I'm not a full-time student for a semester, I have to start paying back loans, and I'm not so certain I could maintain a job for that and schoolwork at the same time. If I do transfer out with a sub-par GPA into a college where I have no connections to any professors, then what?

Needless to say, I'm concerned.

[Vad]

You know what Meds your going to try for ADD? I could give you some names to ask about if you hit me up on AIM or I can PM them to you. I was medicated for ADHD up until March of this year for 12 years on a different cocktail of things. Always being at least 4 pills. Until March, when I realized, fuck this, It's annoying, and I'm going to take control. Haven't taken a pill since. But everyone is different. Again, let me know Krillin.

EDIT: If your looking for one that is also a stimulant, ask about Dexedrine.

[Orion]

Your college requires you to turn up to chapel? I assume you're at a Christian college. That's kind of weird that your whole academic work is dependent upon whether you're attending mass or not.

[Vad]

Nevermind. Waste of a post.

[Kaden]

I was suspended from the first university I attended. It was an ordeal, personally, but far from being the end of the world. It actually turned out to work in my favor eventually. Regardless, suspension could be a good opportunity for you. Obviously, it would depend on how your college handles suspension, but it might be helpful to hear what I ended up doing.

After getting suspended from OSU, I transferred over to community college. OSU's suspension policy says that a student cannot enroll in their classes again until either they raise their GPA above 2.5 or two school years had passed. When I was suspended, my cumulative GPA was 0.70. At PCC I focused on repairing the damage I had already done by retaking as many transferrable classes as I could.

The process took me more than two years, but that was more because of my personal situation than anything else. After two years I transferred back to OSU for a term (it was part of this whole "closure" thing) and then transferred to PSU, when I'm currently enrolled. While my GPA isn't great, I'm quite happy that I've pulled it up to a 2.75 and found a major that I'm moderately interested in. And that was the other thing that the suspension gave me time to figure out.

My first thought going into college was that I wanted to program. I was very wrong about that. My second choice was to major in english. I like to write, I would love to be published some day, so english seemed like a pretty solid choice. Except that there's not much to do with an english degree. Given the time and money I've put into school, I need to come out of it with something I can sell. Which is why I switched my major to business. Fact of the matter is that I can find time to write, and I don't need to major in it to be able to do it.

The only thing you really need to do is be proactive about whatever decision you make. I transferred three or four times, and not a single time did it go the way I was hoping it would. I spent a lot of time on the phone and in administrative buildings making sure things got done when they needed to be. Most students have more options available to them than they realize.

[Jack]

my cumulative GPA was 0.70.

Holy mother of God, how is that possible?

[Cain]

Dexedrine was taken off the market for heart palpitations. It could be that you have a philosophical mind, and rather than learning about something, you're thinking about how and why it works. In that case I wouldn't recommend medication; try coffee.

[Josh]

Holy mother of God, how is that possible?

He has a Waffle addiction.

[Kaden]

Holy mother of God, how is that possible?

Not that hard, really. Especially when there's Gunbound to be played.

[Kami]

Not that hard, really. Especially when there's Gunbound to be played.

Gunbound.

IT RUINS LIVES

[Vad]

My high school one was .66 one semester. It was funny. =D

EDIT: @ Bojack: Yeah its funny how every pill I took, treats something else now. No longer used for ADHD, or like you said, removed from the market.

[Alexander Trafford]

Plead and beg for leniency and promise to make a serious effort to go above and beyond what's expected of you in the future and be an active member of the academic, social and religious scene at your school.

Or transfer and try to build on what you currently have. But since it seems like you already know what you want to do and would be in a decently good situation, church attendance aside, i would go for option A and hope for the best.

[Jonathan Meer]

I'm getting disciplinary probation, not suspension.

My professor was rather encouraging.

I'm content.

[Jack]

whats that?

[Vad]

Double Secret Probation?

[Jonathan Meer]

If memory serves, it doesn't really mean much. I think there's a few housing options I can't take advantage of, and if I do something like this again, I get in a lot of trouble.

That's pretty much it.

[Vad]

Honestly, what did you do? Miss Chapel? Wow...I mean, I respect religious views, but that just hit's the common sense bell in my brain. It screams,

"He's trying to prepare his future and your scolding him for missing chapel?"

If I'm wrong, you can tell me. That's what I got from this.

[Jack]

Double Secret Probation?

LOL

I was trying to think of that phrase earlier today for something else. Weird.

[Kaden]

Honestly, what did you do? Miss Chapel? Wow...I mean, I respect religious views, but that just hit's the common sense bell in my brain.

It doesn't really have anything to do with being religious, it has to do with following the rules of the school. If they tell you "missing chapel is grounds for probation" then that's how it is.

You can tell them "well I didn't go because it didn't make sense to me" but it won't stop them from kicking you out.

[Jonathan Meer]

What Rad said.

I understand the reason for chapels (my college is actually quite honest about their intent, in that a large portion of what they are meant for is not religious, but communal), and agree with it, but not passionately enough to attend every single chapel. Usually, that same time block is prime-studying time.

I do intend to follow the rules, though.