The Long Road Ahead
After high
school I went to the University of Utah for two years, but I became
discouraged. I studied hard night and day all year long, but my grades were still
mostly C’s. I was discouraged.
I fussed over
what foods are best to eat before a high-stakes test, when is the best time to
review the toughest material? I would test myself repeatedly before an exam to
retrieve and apply knowledge from memory, re-read textbooks. If I was facing a
biology test on the digestive system I would practice explaining it to myself
on how it works from start to finish, and studying a list of its parts. Which
memory tricks work best and does cramming really help?
The
registrar’s office sent me a letter stating that my grade point average of D
would have to be raised to a C- or better in order to continue attending the
University, and to top it off all the dental schools at that time required a
3.5 grade point average. What a dilemma, there I am sitting with a 1.8average,
and additionally I was out of work and couldn’t find a job.
I decided to be a musician. For the next year
I became a full time drummer. Part of that time I was playing the drums in a
motel in Fresno, Ca. I didn’t like the environment and the low pay so after a
year I went back to Utah.
About this
same time my mother worked a day or two at my bother- in- laws dental office. She told me he earned $100. a day. I asked my bother-in-law Dr. Miland Coburn
D.D.S. who graduated from Loyola what was involved in becoming a dentist. He
gave me advice and showed me some of the practical exam tests.
I enrolled
once more at the UofU giving it another try, but alas after a year my grades
were only C+ and Loyola was only accepting applications of B average or better.
Being
persistent, I decided to enroll the following quarter at the U, but enrolled for
just two easy classes plus a couple of classes for no credits. I thought a
light schedule would make it easy for me to raise my average grades. But, I ended up with only a 2.4 average and
only 8 credited hours. That wasn’t going to cut it; at that rate I'd be an old
man by the time I made 3.5 average. I thought I wasn't very smart, but I was persistent.
What to do?
I decided to
take a year off at the U of U, and subsequently entered BYU, as a freshman. I
took a heavy class schedule, 21 credit hours with solid classes for two
semesters. I bought test-prep books and subjected myself to a relentless and
repetitive series of college entrance exams. I took them over and over again,
until it became aggravating. In the fall I went back to the U of U and enrolled
in the same classes I had taken at the Y.
I didn’t
mention to the Loyola admissions office I had attended BYU. Now carrying a 3.8 average, I wrote to the registrar’s
office that I had just got off to a slow start, but I was sure I would be one of best
students in the class of ’63. Now 26 years old, and nine years later, I
was accepted at Loyola University, a dream come true.
Dr. KARL WALLACE D.D.S.
To read more go to:
w.w.w.karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
