"Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. . . .

 '. . . And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It's shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult." ~Dune

Here is a very interesting article about remedial ed in colleges - who's fault is it that we have so many people in remedial courses? I have heard all of these arguments, and made a couple of them myself. and the explanations are sound. It's worth the effort to look into a permanent solution to remedial education -- from the K-12 responsibility to the role of the university.

I remember doing very little to get good grades in high school. In college I was an average student - below average my first couple of years - who had no idea why she was there. I changed my major five times and finally majored in whatever would get me out there! When I chose to go to graduate school, I chose History - through study I refined it to US Diplomatic History because I was fascinated by it. I still am. And my grades were significantly better - acheiving a 3.93GPA upon graduation. Later, when I returned to graduate school for my MLS degree, I was even more focused - earning a 4.0, working as a RA for the hardest professor, and working part-time at an academic library. Sometimes we don't know what we're doing when we're young - sometimes we need time to focus.