Four A’s, One B-, and a Summer Worth Celebrating

Today  I received the grades for my last Summer course. This means my 20 Summer semester is officially over.

I ended the semester with four A’s, one B-, a 3.740 semester GPA, and a 3.861 institutional and overall GPA.

Like any good perfectionist, I immediately clicked on that B-. Screw you four perfect grades sitting right next to it. Screw you 15 credit hours. Screw you sitting there while I work full time and maintain the rest of my life. My overachieving brain saw the one bad apple and ran with it.

But this time, I caught myself.

Sure, I earned a B- in one of my courses this semester. But that grade does not take away from anything else I accomplished. Here’s why:

The four A’s.

Finishing five courses this summer.

Balancing college with work and everything else in between.

Furthering my education in classes that taught me about critical thinking, creativity and innovation, global society, stakeholder engagement, and American government.

Pushing through.

Returning to College Isn’t Always Simple

If you are reading this as a current or former college student, you know that college isn’t always as easy as we make it out to be on Instagram. At least it wasn’t for me.

When you’re a regular student, school is probably your job. Once you return to college as an adult, you’re juggling school with your existing job. You’re a student, an employee, a family member, a homeowner (or renter), a friend. You’re just trying to balance life, period.

By the time you sit down to work on an assignment, you’ve had a full day. You’ve been at work, maybe picked up kids from school or daycare, worked around your partner’s schedule, cooked dinner, and battled through the kind of tired that keeps snoozing your alarm clock in the morning. Now you’re trying to concentrate on school work when all you want to do is take a nap.

Some days are better than others. Some weeks you feel like superwoman. Other weeks you struggle to find the motivation to log into your learning management system, let alone study for an exam.

This summer was a mix of both extremes.

Excited and Motivated vs Overwhelmed and Exhausted

This summer had its highs and lows. As I mentioned earlier, there were days I felt absolutely unstoppable. I was writing papers like a boss and acing discussion posts. Other days, I seriously questioned my decision to take on so much coursework. Schooling myself during the summer was a lot of work. Five courses alone is pretty intense, but add a full-time job into the mix and it can become overwhelming.

Despite the B-, I was still able to accomplish what I set out to do this summer.

I showed up.     I did the work.     I earned those four A’s.

Progress Over Perfection

I’m learning that progress does not have to be perfect.

I like to think I’m a good student. My grades typically reflect that. But I’m also a perfectionist. My drive to be perfect in everything I do sometimes gets the best of me.

I take my grades seriously because they are more than just a letter. They are a culmination of my time, effort, sacrifices, and energy that I put into my education. I want my grades to reflect that I take my role as a student seriously.

This mindset helps motivate me to work hard, but it can also prevent me from recognizing my achievements when I don’t get the outcome I want.

Just because I got a B- on one assignment doesn’t mean I didn’t learn the material. It doesn’t mean I wasn’t an A student in that class. It doesn’t mean my hard work went unrecognized.

Big or Small, I’m Learning

This semester I was reminded of a few things.

When I lack motivation, my discipline will keep me going. There were many days where I did not want to read one more chapter or write one more word. But that didn’t stop the work from needing to be done.

Planning my time is less about crafting the perfect schedule and more about going with the flow. Life happens, even when you think you’ve got everything on a rigid calendar. Learning how to roll with the punches has helped me from feeling overwhelmed.

Asking for help is never something to be ashamed of. As an online student, I know how easy it is to feel disconnected from your college. Reaching out for help and knowing where to find resources has been a big part of my college journey.

Most importantly, I learned that I am stronger than I think.

It’s OK to Celebrate Your Wins

In college, it’s easy to look at the next semester and never stop moving forward. While I’m always goal-oriented, I sometimes forget to pause and celebrate my wins. This is my celebration.

I want to celebrate all of the late nights spent studying. Thank every busy weekend I had to miss with friends. Acknowledge the stress, the frustration, the edits, the discussion posts, and the projects that made me want to pull my hair out. And celebrate how mad determined I was to not quit and just finish.

I want to celebrate the four A’s!

I want to celebrate my 3.861 overall GPA!

I want to celebrate knowing that with each class I take, I am continuing to move closer to my goal of graduating college. A goal that seemed so far away when I first started my journey but is now within reach.

I have a few weeks before Fall classes start. There will be plenty of time to think about my next courses. Right now, it’s time to celebrate this summer!

Fall semester will be here before I know it and I’ll be chasing another set of grades.

But not today. Today, Summer 2026 wins!

You can keep your B-.