To start reading Articles from Age 1, Please Click Here: Age 1: Sitting on the Edge
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by Dr. Margaret Aranda
I took a Multiple Choice test one day in high school, not a written test which I preferred. I left a bunch of answers blank. I went back at the end of the test, filling in all the blank answers with the same answer, "C". Statistically, I would get some of the answers right. Well, I got my test scores back and I Failed the Test. I had never Failed a test before. So naturally, I thought there must be some mistake.
I talked to the teacher and we pulled my Scan-Tron form. In looking it over, we realized that I had erased so many answers that the computer read two answers for a lot of questions. So Mr. Brigg hand-checked my answers and WaLa! I had an "A" instead of a "F". Whew!
One "F" on my Pre-med transcript in college would have ruined any chance of my being accepted into Medical School. I was beginning to put together my Resume and figure out my Grade Point Average, or GPA. I requested transcripts from my previous college, Pierce Junior College, in Woodland Hills, CA. I had to calculate that GPA into my new one at California State University, Northridge. Inquiring minds wanted to know what the total was. So I ordered my transcripts. One day, several weeks later, the letter came in the mail. There I was again, opening another letter that, unbeknowingst to me, was about to tell my fate.
Much to my shock and dismay, I had a "D" in Trigonometry! I had no idea that it existed. Frantic, I had to get rid of it. I didn't understand where the "D" came from.
So I investigated the matter. Come to find out that my Trigonometry teacher, Mrs. Silver, had just decided to give a "D" because I never dropped the class. Remember? I had come down with chicken pox and I was only 16, so I didn't know the process.
I met with her. She had straight brown hair, pulled back into a bun. Her black glasses stared at me in seriousness and I could sense no compassion. She refused to change my grade. She would not even change it to a "Drop" or a "No Credit". She didn't care that I was Pre-Med. She didn't care that I had come down with chicken pox. She did not care that I did not actually turn in "D" work. She just didn't care. It was a bloody mess.
So I wrote a letter to the Dean of Students. I explained the whole thing.
Thank God, he had a heart. To this day, my transcript has the "D" crossed out. In handwriting next to it, there is a "No Credit". It is enscripted, "Administrative Change". The "D" never got counted into my GPA and I am so grateful to Pierce College for showing compassion on one girl who just wanted to get into Medical School. I just had to get in!
I was running around, going from playing Peek-a-Boo with my three year old, to studying biology and calculus, to helping with the American Red Cross Blood Drive. Here I am below, standing to the left with the short brown hair. The man with the plaid coat is Ronald L. Nelson, Director of the Sepulveda VA Medical Center. About 20 years later, I worked with him at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, when I was Interim Chief of Anesthesiology. How much those ensuing twenty years had changed each of us.
American Red Cross Blood Drive. Dr. Margaret Aranda on the left.
The lady to your right is Mattie Bierbower, Chair of the Employees Blood Drive.
Aubrey Payne, Field Representative, is standing next to me.
I was still President of the Pre-Med Club, and we now had over 50 Members.
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Dr. Margaret Aranda's Books:
Face Book Page: No More Tears: A Physician Turned Patient Inspires Recovery
No More Tears en Espanol
Face Book Page: Stepping from the Edge
Little Missy Two-Shoes Likes to go to School
Face Book Page: Little Missy Two-Shoes Likes a Ladybug
From Menarche to Menopause: A Journey through Time
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For Additional Memoirs by Dr. Margaret Aranda, Please Click Here:
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Additional Articles by Dr. Margaret Aranda
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Full Disclosure: Margaret A. Ferrante, M.D. is an Institute Physician with Cenegenics Medical Institute. She receives no monetary compensation for hosting this website you are on, which is independent and not affiliated with Cenegenics. The information presented is for education and awareness. Dr. Ferrante currently sees patients out of the Cenegenics office in Beverly Hills, CA.
To book an appointment for a free Consultation, please email her at: mferrante@cenegenics.com
I had a prof that rigid when I was in Grad school. I missed the deadline for defending my thesis - he wrote to me that I'd missed it, that was that. I appealed to the Dean. The reason I missed it? I was in hospital for 6 weeks! Like your case, the Dean overturned the prof's decision, and I was allowed to defend it when I recovered.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to think that one person could have ruined our lives. Thank God there are Deans! I'm so grateful for your case, too! How awful! I know your heart was sinking, as mine was. Glad it worked out for both of us!
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