[MotoSook]

I breezed through HS while in sports and having a respectable social life. Got A's and a few B's. My wife, who was our class Salutatorian hates me for it, hated me for how easy it was for me. I graduated a few places behind her and was voted "most likely to succeed."

Then came freshmen year at college. BAM! Reality struck. I couldn't pull the same crap at the big U, and I hadn't learned how to study. Add that to my newfound freedom and it was a bad mix. I got a C average my first semester and nearly failed Chemistry, but managed to get a C after cramming for the final...

It took a while before I learned how to study. It is not something you can flip a switch on to make yourself do it. One thing that helped...when I was feeling really down about it...knowing that some of the most successful people in the world went through the same "reality check and awakening." I happened to meet a friend's uncle when I was at the valley of my "fall." He must have known what I was going through and over a glass of SoCo he told me how he went from a go nowhere loser to a grunt in a hospital linen room to running the hospital.

You really have to find your inner fire at times like this. Be it your personal history, someone's well timed inspirational story or through struggling from near failure. I had a mix of all that, and today I can honestly say it made me a better person.

Don't worry about wasting prereq's. Even if you decide in 2 yrs Phram school isn't for you, it will not be the end of the world. I too questioned my choice of study. In the end I ended up getting two degrees, and I don't regret any of those years in college.

Towards the end I was taking 20 hrs a semester and struggled through them while working to keep the credit cards from maxing out so I could buy the weeks grocery.

The biggest thing that helped me in the end was finding friends in the same classes and building a study group. I was stubborn and too proud in the earlier years and didn't want to accept the fact that I couldn't do it alone. It hurt me.

So don't worry so much about your first couple of years' classes (or what they are). Think of it as an opportunity to build a GPA cushion by getting straight A's 'cuse you may get a C or D in a class or two down the road. Make friends who have better study habits than you. Form a study group forthe difficult classes and you will soon find it is pretty easy to get in all your study needs and still have fun.

I wish I could go back to school. I'd get straight A's and still party my arse off. It's a matter of prioritizing and focusing on what you are doing "now!" Whether that be studying or drinking more than your fill occasionally.

Good luck. The first few years of college will be the best times of your life....so long as you know how to partition your time.