Christina Skelly Hitchcock
Clas of 2008

 From social butterfly . . . to the Dean’s List

“Because I did not learn to read quickly, I was intimidated by school and got off to a weak start in elementary school. That beginning that caused me not to take academics seriously, and consequently, I did not apply myself and used school as a way to have a social life. 

“Unfortunately, I took that same carefree attitude with me when I enrolled at Trevecca. I fully enjoyed the social aspects of college, but in my courses I drifted and did the minimum work required. Eventually I realized that my professors did not take me seriously as a student, and the situation was my fault because I did not take them or my coursework seriously.

“My direction changed during my sophomore year when I encountered a professor who apparently had a different view of me, engaged me with the coursework, and began to change my thinking. He encouraged me to read the assignments and to study. When I made my first A in his class—my first A in college—I loved that feeling of success, and I started studying in all of my classes. That change led to other important changes—my becoming organized, learning time management, arriving on time for classes, and doing the kinds of things that indicated to my professors that I cared about my studies.

“Those changes resulted in a significant improvement in all my grades in every subject—for the first time ever! From my sophomore year through my final semester as a senior, I made the Dean’s List.

“I thank the professors at Trevecca for being willing to invest in me, to see something in me that my previous teachers had never seen. Trevecca taught me academics and gave me career training, but it also gave me self-confidence and self-worth.”

 Christina is a mass communication major from Nashville, Tennessee. In her final semester she was an intern for the local NBC affiliate, Channel 4-WSMV. She wants to work in the news field.

Empowering Students to Make the Leap

Trevecca is committed to empowering students to make the leap. Those leaps are as unique as the persons who make them, but all leaps involve growth or change in the life of a student. Some of those leap stories are presented here, and more stories will be added.
Do you have a "leap" story? If you do, Trevecca wants to have your story. Please send your story to myleap@trevecca.edu.