My parents did not go to college, and I was always apprehensive of going myself, but I did decide to go. I picked the University of Oklahoma because Oklahoma was in the center of the country.
After almost flunking out my freshman year (0.87 grade point second semester), I went to my guidance counselor for advice. He showed me a listing of his students and their grade point averages, and he told me that I was not the caliber of student he advised—he recommended I go to a different counselor. That was disheartening, but the new counselor reviewed by high school grades and said “well, you aren’t a dummy.” He suggested I take a variety of courses and maybe something would get my attention.
So, after barely being able to stay in school, I signed up for 19 hours – History of Art, Accounting, Invertebrate Zoology, English Literature, Geology, and Aviation (since my father was a pilot). I got my first A in college— Geology (B’s in all the others and quadrupled my grade point to 3.65), and I called by mother and told her I was going to be a Geologist!
I watched the Chevron interviewer circle my F in calculus and draw a line down to the A in calculus a few semesters later. That example might be an indication of how I might do if I ever drilled a dry hole.
Lessons learned: get advice from a higher power, learn from your mistakes and Don’t give up.

Owen Hopkins – Geologist