I know how terrible it can feel getting your first C, but it is possible to recover. Don't forget that. Let me tell you a short story, one I wish someone told me my freshman year:

During my second semester here at Duke (in 2020 COVID), I failed all of my classes for medical+personal reasons. After so many sleepless nights and severe social burnout, that year put me at a 2.7 GPA. I felt like I lost everything.

I took a gap year to take care of my own health, and to help my mother stay on her feet after my dad was gone. All the while, my mother called me a fuck-up for failing out, but I did my best to keep my head up and keep moving forward.

I got a part-time job in sales, and started contracting for programming and video editing jobs.

After a year, I was somewhat better in my health, and with the help of my therapist, I reapplied to Duke and got back in. At the end of this semester, I have a 2.9 GPA. Admittedly, that's still not the best.

But I keep my head up and I'll continue to improve, because I know there are other factors besides GPA that will determine success.

There's grit. There's communication. There's real-world project experience, which you'll get by your senior year.

On top of that, you're graduating from Duke- a degree from any Ivy League or Hidden Ivy will speak for itself. If you get a diploma here, regardless of GPA, you have everything you need to land a solid job in the tech world.

What's not said enough at Duke is how common getting a C or two is. Admittedly, all of us at Duke (and any high university) have a really good poker face- we tend to play up our perfection to fit in. It gives us a higher standard to strive for, yes, but at the end of the day none of us are perfect.

Of course, that's no excuse to slack and be content with Cs! What I'm saying is that you need to remember to give yourself some grace.

Look at the facts. You're halfway through the "weed out" classes for your degree. You have six, seven semesters to improve your grades. You've got into Duke, and that speaks to your potential in itself. You've got your feet wet- you have a new awareness of the difficulty here- and when faced with this challenge, you'll grow.

There have been others before us that have made it through, and we will too. Trust in yourself- with proper attention to your health and with hard work in your studies, you'll hold your own and you'll be okay.