By now most grades should be in and we should mostly know how we did this semester in school.
There’s a problem though. All thought the semester some people, *points finger at crowd* you know who you are, felt it necessary to compete for who got better grades. Not just over all but on individual tests and crap like that. This competitive atmosphere is natural among ambitious talented students.
I’ll admit for a while there I partook in the race. But I called a halt. It was bad for me somehow. Apparently I couldn’t take the pressure of trying to do better then someone else. It is better for me to just focus on me, which is what I did. That is also why I stopped sharing grades with everyone. And I’m going to continue to not share grades with anyone.
That’s all old news, though.
Today I ask for everyone to stop sharing grades. I have a couple of reasons.
We can’t help each other if we are competing. If my main focus is doing better than you than I’m sure as hell not going to help you. If your main focus is do better than me and then rub it in my face when you do, I’m centrally not going to help you. Competition creates a bad atmosphere. We’re all trying to get through school and come out with a decent education. I think that if we help each other then we will be better off.
But more importunately:
WHO GIVES A CRAP WHAT YOUR GRADES ARE? Really, people, grades don’t really mean anything. Yes, I know that colleges want you to have good grades, and I know that your parents want you to have good grades and I know that you have been duped into feeling that having good grades is all that matters in life. Well, snap out of it.
Such is the greatest deception of our time. That race for the highest score. That which kills our imagination, kills our muse, kills our potential. Yes, become educated but fucking do something with it. How long will we measure our worth on the grading scale? Perhaps when you want to validate your life you should look at how many hearts you’ve warmed or how many souls you’ve inspired. Look at what you have really done. Don’t let your imagination and inspiration die in the pursuit.
Do your best in school, yes. But remember that school is just the preparation for life it isn’t actually life itself. Don’t be fooled.
Fair, Balanced, and Second,
Adam
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3 comments:
I must disagree with you. Grades do mean something, they are a way of measuring success, they can be used to track one's improvement, they can be used to measure over a long period of time a students achievement. They tell you if someone can succeed in a class. Grades are a good measuring stick.
The 'race for the higest score' as you call it, is a way of challenging another to be better. I don't have anything to work for without competition from someone else, even if it's not from Gross, there's a kid over at say Westside who is also trying to get into MIT, and I need to beat him out.
Competition does NOT create a bad atmosphere, it creats an atmosphere of higher learning, of challenging each other to go above and beyond, and of maximizing everyone's potential.
Also, if you think that competition is going to die out after school, no it won't. It will intensify. People will be trying to move up the career ladder and beat you out. It's only going to get harder, competition for grades definately helps prepare you for the future.
I think you're misinterpreting the reason most people want to know your grades. It's not to make a claim that they're better than you, it's to help everyone better themselves.
Grades don't matter.
There, I said it. All your high school grades do is somewhat help you with college. But even then, they aren't that big of a deal. If you're going in-state, you just need to get above average grades to have almost a full ride. If you're going out of state, you're fucked...hell, you all know what kind of grades I got, and they were only good enough to get me enough money from ISU to pay for about $8,000 a year of about $23,000 a year (tuition + room and board). As for ROTC, again, my grades combined with everything else were only good enough to get me a three year scholarship, not a four year.
And both of those scholarships are dependent on me retaining good grades in college...and your college grades are only important for getting your first job out of college, and really, only then if you are in a somewhat technical field. In anything else, getting internships and hands on experience is FAR more important than getting exceptional grades.
Now, all this isn't to say that you shouldn't do well in school. You should, but only because you should WANT to do your best.
Regardless, Adam is totally right in that some people let grades become their sole source of happiness. It's retarded. Grades should be the least of your worries...look, I've got a 2.5 GPA my first semester, and quite honestly, its not that big of a deal. Yeah, I need to improve for next semester, but I'm not overly concerned.
And that's how it should be. If you make competition with other people your sole source of happiness, you will never be truly happy.
Woa I didnt say it's the sole purpose of happiness... that honor is reserved for music! But no, I think some good healthy competition is good for an environment, and that I don't think there's anything wrong with sharing your grades. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.
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