<p>Senior year in 12th grade, I received four denial letters from The College of William and Mary, Virginia Tech, James Madison University and the University of Virginia. I only applied to a total of 6 colleges. I was forced to attend my safety school and felt like my life was going nowhere, I had no ambition in High School. I had no aspirations, dreams, hopes. I just drifted through each day, wasting precious time.</p>
<p>When I got to college, I made a promise to never let that happen again. I wanted to turn my life around. My first semester of college I got a 4.0 and applied to the University of Virginia again. I was anxious, I knew I was a new person and was praying that UVA would see my new outlook on life and let me attend their University. When the decisions were released, I was denied. My heart sunk to a low that it had never experienced before. [I</a> even made a thread about it here on CC.](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/499702-nothing-wasted-life.html]I”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-virginia/499702-nothing-wasted-life.html)</p>
<p>I didn’t give up though, I got a 3.8 my second semester and then took summer courses with a 4.0. The past fall semester (Fall 08), I got another 4.0 and sent in my application for UVA. This time around I wasn’t as anxious. I have learned a lot during these past 2 years after graduating High School. While I desired to get accepted to UVA so much, I was more thrilled about the fact that I was no longer the sad person I used to be. I now had dreams, I applied myself, I made sure that each day was not wasted. </p>
<p>Today, May 1st, 2009 I checked my decision online. I was accepted. This was my third and final attempt at getting into the University of Virginia. I’m ecstatic right now, my heart is beating so fast and my mind is racing. However, even if I did not get in, I am confident in saying that it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I tried my best and that was all that mattered. In the long run, I’m happy that I did not give up. </p>
<p>I just wanted to give a special thanks to Dean J. You may not know it, but you’ve been so much help over the past 3 years. I checked your blog when I was applying as a high school senior, I checked your blog when I was applying as a freshman in college and I have been checking your blog daily this past year. I appreciate everything you do and you’ve helped tremendously, more than you can imagine.</p>
<p>I also wanted to end on this note from Thomas Jefferson, because I found it very applicable.</p>
<p>“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”</p>
