For a few years after 2014 I was not considered an OU student. I made poor decisions and failed one too many classes as a freshman and sophomore, and found myself with a suspension for poor academic scholarship. In the interim I enrolled at OCCC to try and correct my mistakes. I still lived nearby OU campus, and would sometimes walk to campus and wander it in the evenings to clear my head. Many times I would come back to the OU Clock Tower and be reminded of why I ever moved to Oklahoma in the first place. Despite the fact that I would never graduate within 4 years of starting classes, I still chose not to walk under the tower itself. I would save that for a special occasion, because I wasn’t going to give up on my goal despite my self-induced setback.