2. ZIAD ZEBIB CIS MW 8:00-8:50AM HOW I GOT TO WESTERN

3. DROPPING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL I dropped out of high school on the last day for my senior class. I dropped out for many reasons.

4. WHY I DROPPED OUT Bad gradesPoor Attendance Not enough credits to graduate Laziness Lack of respect for the administration and my parents

5. SUMMER AFTER I DROPPED The summer after I dropped out of high school gave me a lot of time to think about where my life was going. Realizing my life was going nowhere put things in perspective. Hearing all my friends talk about what schools they where going to made me rethink my plans and goals.

6. GETTING MY GED Once I realized that I wanted to get back on track with my education I tried to take the GED test. I signed up for the soonest class possible. I passed the test and received my GED

7. ENROLLING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE Once I got my GED I enrolled in my local community college. Getting serious in school again was scary. I knew it demanded my time and attention. It was the first time in years that I took responsibility for my schooling.

8. EXCELLING IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE I was scared at first but my fear drove me to not only pass all my classes but receive all A’s and B’s in my first year. I forgot about the past and worked twice as hard as I had ever before.

9. TAKING MY EDUCATION TO THE NEXT LEVEL Once I had gotten my schooling on track I knew I had to consider a university to complete my education. I looked at a lot of schools and decided to apply at Western Michigan University.

10. APPLYING TO WESTERN I was very afraid of applying to Western. I was afraid that because I had only a GED that I would not be accepted. Luckily my hard work had paid of and because I had good grades in my community college I was accepted into the university.

11. MY TIME SO FAR AT WESTERN My time so far here has been challenging and rewarding. I spend a lot of time studying and working hard to maintain good grades. I am very happy that I turned my schooling around and made it this far.