By the end of my Freshman spring semester, I was devasted and discouraged. To say it had not been my semester was probably an understatement. I had my first car wreck, my first C in any class, and I was not certain I would I even pass one of my "easy" classes. I also had forgone any sense of healthy eating and a regular sleep schedule. I did not know how to talk to my family about how poorly I had done, so I dreaded having to move home for the break. I was a mess emotionally and academically.

Looking back at that semester it seems like it seems like so long ago. Yet, I remember the stress and shame of failure vividly. But time has shown me that the semester was not a defining moment in my life.

Maybe this semester is that semester for you. If it is, here is a letter I wish I could write to my past self.

So you have had a bad semester and you are not sure what to do next. Maybe you are not sure you passed that make or break it final. Maybe you know your grades already. Or maybe you were not as involved in your school as you wished.

The truth is one semester does not define you. Your grades do not define you. Honestly, how you handle failure is a better example of who you are than your grades.

The goodness is your GPA is most likely recoverable. You have options. Most of the time you can retake a class for a higher (or passing) grade to replace it on your GPA. Chances are your scholarships have a grey area of a "probation" period before they are automatically withdrawn (meaning you have time appeal, retake or pull up your GPA.) Plus if you happen to have had a lot of A's and B's, one D is not that noticeable to your overall GPA.

Yes, you will have to talk about this and probably "explain yourself." Just remember your family's opinion is important, but they are not the one taking the classes. Be proud you are in college. Be proud of the classes you did well in or at least survived (let's be honest, if you made it to the final in college algebra without dropping or giving up: you are already ahead of a lot of people.) Count small victories and large ones. Be honest and let your family know you are aware you need to do better. But do not become discouraged when talking to them. You are not defined by this semester. You are a hard worker, it was just a rough patch. They want the be

Do not let yourself fall victim to the idea that "college is not for everyone." You made it to college and that proves that college is for you.

Be careful not to let this ruin your break. Take time with your family. Take time to relax and recharge. You cannot do anything about that failed lab anymore. Focus on the present and the future.

Your grades do not define you. That is shocking, right? It may feel like it when scholarships and parental expectations are dependants on good grades. But they are not who you are. You are a lot of things and a failure is not one of them. Your grades have very little weight on who you are as a person (think of it this way, when you think of your grandmother do you think of her GPA?)

Maybe you were not as "plugged in" to your campus as you wanted to be. It is okay. Next semester will provide new opportunities.

My point is a bad semester does not define you. It is okay to forgive yourself for messing up. Learn from the mistakes you made and move on as a better student. This is not something you and your GPA will not be able to recover from. You have another semester ahead of you and that means a chance to do better. You also have an entire life ahead of you that is not going to be defined by one semester. Trust me, I have seen friends fail nearly all their classes and still come back from it to do some amazing things. This was a bad semester, but you do not have to let it result in a bad four years.