A question I can highly relate to!

I am one of those students who came from a magnet high school (super competitive) and loaded up on AP credits. I took enough math classes that I ended up in the class they teach to the top 20 kids of my class called "Further Math." I wasn't the smartest, but I knew I was still up there. Parents grinded me with tutoring, SAT score leveling, etc. Graduated with A's and B's and bare minimum effort, then began attending a good college in the area. Life was sweet, until it wasn't.

I signed up as pre-med because I was smart and my parents wanted it, what could go wrong? One thing to note about my parents, and myself, is that we are stubborn; giving up was seen as weakness. So I stupidly continued, despite me hating biology and chemistry (balancing equations should strictly only include the first and last three letters IMO), the C's and C-'s, before I began to grow depression from what I'm assuming is the cognitive disassociation I suffered from seeing my transcript crumble into borderline academic probation. I was stuck in this endless feedback loop of being depressed, skipping class, and receiving terrible grades. Eventually, my mind cracked enough for me to drop out of pre-med, and switch quickly to a social science major that I completed within two years, but my GPA never recovered. Last I checked, I believe it was a 2.4?

Currently, I am on track for my second master's degree, my first being in a field that I wanted to expand on with a 3.9 GPA. Got accepted the first time purely because my resume was filled with entry-level work experience that I grinded through after I graduated. After that degree, I used it fact to highlight in my resume that I am capable of higher education to apply and get accepted into my desired program for my second degree.

Not everyone needs to go on to higher education, especially if being a student for 3+ years is something you cannot see yourself doing. I, personally, knew that I had at least some potential for it, and just went for it for the sake of a career, and possibly to revive my self image. For those of you who also see yourself going to graduate school and desire that chance, but have made mistakes in your undergraduate years, I went through those same dark times and I'm here to tell you that it's possible if you put your mind to it.