When you have to do your 4 year program in 5 years

So this post is basically as the title states. I screwed up my first year in the program as I feel some (okay, maybe not some but a few) first year university students do. I had this math class second semester of first year and it was at 7PM at night (same with the tutorial). It was so hard for me to get to that class all the time because it was so late at night and I didn't feel like learning math that late. So I basically didn't go to class and rarely attended my tutorials. As a result, it bit me in the a**. I ended up not being prepared for the midterm and final which caused me to fail the course.

When I first received the mark I was a little upset with myself because I knew that it could have been avoided. I thought that I would be able to fix it before it did any damage to my completion of the program. Well, it was wishful thinking. Turns out the math course was a prerequisite for my clinical microbiology, hematology and biochemistry courses. Therefore, I could not get into those classes and had to take my electives for fourth year.

On the negative side, I don't get to graduate with my year and all the friends I had made prior to this semester. I see how close everyone in med lab has gotten and it makes me wish I didn't screw up in the first place.

On the positive side, my course load from now on will now be 4 classes instead of 5 which will be easier to handle, all my electives are out of the way and now I have more time to work to save up money to pay my tuition.

Now I have to complete my degree in 5 years instead of 4. It's not the end of the world but I don't like that it had to happen this way. I am taking an introductory calculus class in the fall and hopefully passing it so that I am able to take these classes in the second semester. This situation was a major learning experience and I hope it doesn't happen again.

So students, go to your classes no matter how late they are and stay on top of them! Don't do what I did because you'll regret it in the end.