Before we begin, I want to establish this disclaimer: I graduated from Sacramento State in May 2011 with my bachelor’s degree in English – I know what it means to graduate.

I also know what it means to not graduate.

I entered Sac State’s Teacher Preparation program immediately after graduation and have spent the last nine months of my life student teaching and learning from some of the best teachers our university has to offer. However, circumstances and technicalities collided and I was left hanging without my credential.

As I write this, my friends are preparing to walk across the stage at this year’s commencement, shake our teachers’ hands and smile triumphantly when their names are called. I will be at home, probably wearing pajamas, hanging out with my cats and enjoying some Irish whiskey.

There is a certain art to not graduating. According to Sac State’s Jeanne Clery report – a rather odd yearly publication that details crime statistics and graduation reports – approximately 44 percent of first-time freshmen graduate within six years of attending Sac State.

While that in itself is an impressive number – I have attended schools where the six-year rate was 26 percent – it does mean 56 percent of first-time freshmen do not graduate within six years.

I had it easy as a freshman: I had taken six Advanced Placement classes in high school to get some General Education requirements off my plate and I was secure in my position as a likely successful future graduate. I admit it – I was successful and I had no reason not to be. I used to look down on people who did not have the motivation to get their act together and graduate on time. I could not comprehend this inability to graduate when the system that was in place made it so easy for people to finish on time.

Now, I am one of those people.

My life was planned out. I was supposed to be on my way to being the best English teacher ever and exposing my students to momentous works of awe-inspiring depth and complexity, but now, I am not. Now, I am facing the decision of what to do with the rest of my life – and it is going to take a little while to get there.

I was lucky. Shortly after my fall from educational grace, I seized an opportunity to come back to Sac State for another year – and I could not be happier. After four years of 15 units per semester – minimum – I get to have fun and actually enjoy my college life. I get to experiment and take the fun classes, rather than being relegated to classes where you write 5,000 words and stress about the content of a midterm.

It will be my sixth year in college. I never planned to be here this long and I never wanted to be here this long, either.

But my task now is to let my hair down, get my hands dirty and live.

Cheers to not graduating.

Alexandra Poggione can be reached at [email protected].