Another Good Report Card

While there are certainly many things that I am not good at (like swimming for example), one thing I never really had much trouble with was school.

I had friends who were always sweating it come report card time, but for me, that was never really a problem all the way from Kindergarten through college (with the notable exception of Mrs. Pharr’s AP Calculus class in 11th grade). I was always on the Honor Roll (or the “Dean’s List” as it is referred to in college), even my last semester at Harding when I was a full-time graduate student, a Graduate Assistant for the Foreign Language Department, working as an ESL teacher at an elementary school and playing my last year of college ultimate.

But any and all academic achievements I may have accomplished in the past have been dwarfed by what I found out today when I checked my Harding e-mail account for the first time in several months: I managed to make the Dean’s List this past spring semester despite the fact that I wasn’t enrolled in any classes.

Sometimes schools give out honorary Doctorate degrees. I guess this is something similar—based on past achievements, I’ve been honorarily appointed to the Dean’s List.

Here’s an excerpt from the message I got from the Vice President for Academic Affairs:

It is my pleasure to inform you that you made the Dean’s List at Harding University for the past semester. Recognition on the Dean’s List is a high honor because only students who have earned at least a 3.65 grade point average on twelve or more hours are eligible.

You should be proud of this significant achievement. We fell that Harding offers a very challenging academic program. Therefore, your academic success is one indication of your potential for success throughout your life.

I used to think that Harding was pretty challenging as well. But that was before I got straight A’s without even being aware that I was enrolled in classes.