<p>Hello everyone.
Wow this is an odd first post. Well report cards came today and well I don't know if I could have done any worse. You know its the same old story with me "Student is a pleasure to have in class. Student makes worthwhile contributions in subject area. Student needs to get more organized. Students grades lowered due to missing assignments."</p>
<p>I guess I'm that kid who has all this "potential" but can never get his... together.</p>
<p>Maybe I should be posting in another forum for depressed and angry teens but I really don't know anymore.</p>
<p>I know for a FACT of what I'm capable of and I've shown flashes of it sometimes. I'm not an idiot but yet my grades don't reflect that at all. On one level this is my horrible habit of lying to myself about how I am doing and to others. Even right now I feel sick thinking about how many opportunities I have been given and how many I have tossed aside because I would rather do the bare minimum because it is the easy way out of any responsibility.</p>
<p>But their is always hope. I am contacting tutors, making time tables and schedules until exam week ends and I have made kind of check list to use with my teachers to make sure I'm up to par with any missing grades and what not. I KNOW I can do this but come on this is the 4th quarter of my junior year. My overall GPA is hanging around 2.0 although my reagents exams have all been over 90 percents so far. </p>
<p>I just feel lost right now. My father has given up on me. I don't blame him he has given me a great home and a great up bringing and I cant even get good grades. Im ashamed and I would just like some advice, real life stories, and any other things you could add. I don't even know if this is all of what I wanted to say but who cares I'm going to be sticking around here for awhile so im willing to get into some long talks.</p>
<p>Hey even if someone wanted to IM me that would be fine as well seeing on how I would always like to talk to someone who can help. My Screen name is
duffman2098 don't laugh I was 10!</p>
<p>yes that is what I am considering,wait no I am now forced to do that
I am very into the outdoor(I am a huge backpacker/canoe tripper) I want to get into forestry the environmental sciences/studies maybe some wildlife studies. I live outside of Buffalo NY and of course the big school for that near by is SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry but Im so far from that grade wise that I will have to go through one of the CC that they run with for a year or to then transfer in. </p>
<p>Anyone know of some decent CC that are good in the majors I listed?</p>
<p>It's not too late. Go to a community college and work HARD. Don't do the bare minimum, always work with your goal in mind. If you truly have potential, you shouldn't have a problem transferring to a 4 year college.</p>
<p>hey dude listen to this. if your into the outdoors and all that noise shoot an application to BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY. It is in Minnesota where I live. They have one of the best outdoor programs in the nation and it isnt a bad school. It is located in northern minnesota in a heavily wooded area and the campus is on Lake Bemidji. Im pretty sure they have cheap out of state tuition rates and it is really easy to get into. seriously though check out the website, its worth taking a look into. I think it;d be right up your alley</p>
<p>Another cool lesser-known and easier to get into possibility is the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. They have the premier forestry program in the state and one of the best in the nation--it's what the school is known for. It would end up about 18K a year including room and board. Certainly not the most prestigious school around but it is great for your field.</p>
<p>Yeah I may attend college in northern MN, but i really would rather go to school in wisconsin if i can get accepted. Im not a spectacular student either, but im trying hard now. But there is Bona Vista Ski Resort located in bemidji as well. sounds like you might really dig that area if you look into it.</p>
<p>It's been well known by teachers since at least the days when my great-grandmother taught one-room school, that a lot of students (especially boys) don't get their act together about school until their late teens. You are going to be OK. In fact, you are going to be way better than just OK! Tell your dad to just hang in there a couple more years.</p>
<p>Now that you know that you can do the work, but that you have some organization issues, keep working with your teachers so that you stay on track. You also should have a meeting with your guidance counselor to ask for testing to find out if you have "executive dysfunction" (a fancy name for organization issues). And, while you are at it, get yourself screened for dyslexia. One of my friends wasn't identified with that until she was doing her Ph.D.! If your school will write you an IEP, the resource teachers will be able to design a program specifically to help you master the organizational skills that you need to do better next year, and to do even better when you get to college.</p>
<p>Keep up hope!! You are now able to see your pattern of self-defeat, and that is the first step in changing it! What matters is the long run--where you end up in ten years--happily and gainfully employed with a civic conscience? You've missed the chance for high school honors, so get on with your next opportunity. I'm sure if you complete college responsibly your dad will come around and respect you. But most importantly, you will respect yourself.</p>
<p>With your interest in forestry and enviro-science, why not look into Montana, Montana State, Wyoming, and Colorado State? If you can pay full out of state tuition, you might be attractive to these schools. There are great opportunities to work at the National Parks in the summers, and although most jobs are with concessionnaires (for restaurants, stables, rafting) you can gain an understanding of how the ranger jobs are attained. A summer of hard work and play in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, or Rocky Mountain NPs could provide the joys of pristine forests, high altitude adventures, physical exhaustion, and great comraderie.</p>
<p>Always remember your Dad loves you. Disappointment is different than love. In my experience most disappointment we feel as parents is not directed at our kids, but at the opportunity lost to them. You sound like you know what you want out of life and you can reach that goal. You might try to figure out why you procrastinate. Distractions such as computer or TV may mean doing your work in a different room, if its time running short try to set a deadline earlier than you think Really try to look at it objectively and come up with a solution. Ask adults how they overcame it, believe me there are many of us.</p>
<p>Yes, you can still go to college. You could start at a community college and then transfer. If you do well senior year, you also may be able to get into a four-year college. To get into an even better four-year college, do very well senior year, then take a gap year doing something like going to community college part time (taking any more than a total of 4 courses probably would make 4-year colleges consider you a transfer) while working a job or working a fulltime job or doing volunteer work fulltime.</p>
<p>If you handle job/volunteerism responsibly and have good grades your senior year or have good grades if you also are taking community college courses, that will help 4-year colleges see that you've developed the maturity to be admitted.</p>
<p>My younger S, a nice guy with high scores, almost didn't graduate from high school due to senioritis combined with his pattern of underachievement. He took a gap year with Americorps, did well on that, and got into a second tier college, where fall semester, he got a 3.66. </p>
<p>Since we parents didn't want to waste our money, we told him that we would not fund his freshman year, but would provide money if he got at least a 3.0 gpa at the end of freshman year, something he seems well on track to do. He paid for his college with loans, working, merit aid (the high scores combined with the Americorps helped) and the $4,700 that he got at the end of his Americorps commitment.</p>
<p>Montana State U, in Bozeman, close to Yellowstone, very simple admission requirements:</p>
<p>To be admitted, prospective freshman must have one of the following:</p>
<pre><code>* A 2.5 cumulative grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale) OR
* ACT Enhanced Composite score of 22 OR
* SAT combined critical reading/mathematics/writing score of 1540 (1030 if taken before March 2005) OR
* rank in the upper half of the graduating class
</code></pre>