Blog #7: My Identity Kit

I've mentioned this several times in my previous blog posts but I feel like my identity kit in college, as seen by other people at least, is that I'm a smart cookie who has her sh*t together.
In reality, I'm usually just in a constant state that looks a lot like this:

I was concurrently enrolled in a high school and a community college which is why I was able to earn 60+ units of college credit before I even came into SDSU. I had Junior standing as a freshman and every time I mentioned this to any new person I met they'd always say, "Wow, so you must be really smart then!" And I'm like... yeah....not really. I guess I just work hard?
There really is a big difference between being smart and being a hard worker.
If you just so happen to be both you're basically on God mode.
Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people.
Anyways, my friends always regard me as this smart and hard working dude because I somehow manage to do well in my classes but I'm faaar from being the perfect student.
I hardly ever study and I procrastinate like no other - I just know how to take exams.
I've spent most of my undergrad writing lab reports and studying for exams and quizzes literally on the morning of. What irritates my friends the most is that I do just a tad bit better than them even if they study way more and put in more effort than I ever do.
I rely a lot on my short term memory to memorize concepts for exams but the bad thing about that is I never ever remember any of the class content after I turn in my exams. At this point I feel like I've mastered "The Art of Getting By" but its during my senior year and the period where I'm applying to graduate schools that I'm really starting to feel the repercussions of my lazy habits.

Taking the GRE last week was a really hard reality check for me. The GRE is basically the SAT on steroids and it's what most grad schools require as part of their application process. I crammed for it for two weeks and BARELY, JUST BARELY got the minimum score that I needed to be eligible for DPT school. This wasn't a test that I could study for during the morning of and I truly got the score that I deserved. Had I put in more effort I could've gotten a more competitive score that would've made me a better candidate for the prestigious schools that I plan on applying to. Up until now I've regarded my undergrad as sort of a joke. It's unfortunate that its only during my last semester at state, now that my future's at stake, that I'm actually trying my best to be a good student..
I've mushfaked being a good student up until now but my time is up. I have to put on my big girl pants and actually WERK. Old habits die hard but I have to start working on developing a professional and responsible identity kit unless I want to risk being a scrub for the rest of my entire life. Wish me luck!!