The semester's coming to a close and everyone's on the finals' scent, ears perking at the sound of review sessions and last minute extra credit, tails wagging at the sight of posted review sheets online, and claws ready to attack that scantron for all its worth.

Just as the beagle's mind is centered in on the chase for the fox, so are we on the end of the term, as it seems that grades, GPA's and finals are all we have to talk to each other about as well.

Any spare chance is spent in deep conversation with the friend or stranger next to us, minuscule minds hard-wired on their last haul before the 5 weeks of complete and utter vegetation. The first few minutes the professor spends setting up the projector, the group work in recitation, the lulls in lab; it seems every student is now connected through the universal language of grades and their resulting anxiety.

So, if I expected this kind of reaction, prepared for my major's pure-bred Einstein prodigies to go full 'woe-is-me' over 3.9 GPA's and A's on accumulating mid-terms, why is the self-deprecation especially bad this year?

Why is it, now, that every time these insanely brilliant, academic geniuses turn from their cliques to inquire about my grades, why are their looks of pity all the more brutal after my squeaky reply of 'they're ok?'

This had never been an issue.

I had grown up my whole life with academically successful classmates who just couldn't quite comprehend a life of mediocracy, who looked to the amassing averageness and turned their noses up at the stench of it. But I knew my worth. I was comfortable enough in my skin to know that the issue was not with me, but rather with them.

So why now, as an adult in college, is this really getting to me? I would've thought by now that I would know enough to take their side comments, pitied looks and condescending attitudes with a grain of salt.

Maybe its because of the gap in academic status, and the absence of a large average class schools are seeing these days.

Maybe it's the major I'm enrolled in. Unless I can perfectly master all seven chapters for the next exam, inside and out, I'm not truly meant for a career choice of this calibre.

Maybe it's because our society today puts a high level of importance on intelligence and academic success, that anything less has doomed us and our future.

But what my mind has yet to grasp, and what I know many minds out there are grappling with, is the truth that we are so much more than a letter on a sheet. That there exists no number, no letter that can fully appreciate the personalities we incapsulate.

That if we're working hard and pushing ourselves as individuals, we are succeeding, despite what we're told.

So let's raise our half-empty red bulls and freshly brewed cafe cups of something hot and sugary in our caffeine induced states, to the average joe's out there, who work their butts off for that title.

For the students who pull all-nighters for a term paper they'll do ok on.

For the students who study days in advance just to receive the class average grade.

For the students who create piles of flash cards, packets worth of study sheets and hundreds of Quizlet flashcards just to pass an exam, let alone ace it.

For the students who grab at attendance points and extra credit opportunities, not for a letter grade that'll be worthy of conversation, but because ever since the first day of school, they've been ingrained with the concept of remaining diligent and industrious.

For the students who are encouraged by peers and opportunities to cheat on exams, but strive for the recognition and the satisfaction of an honestly-earned grade.

This is for your perseverance, your hard-working ethics, your commitment, your determination and your indomitable spirit.

These qualities are worth more than the indignant looks we receive, and a whole lot more than you may ever realize.

So this is for the ordinary out there, amongst a sea of extraordinary.

May we remain strong, honest, hard-working and proud, because we are what make this world extraordinary.

Cheers, mates.