As the college season comes to a close and high school students are still in class for another two more months, students are scrambling to get everything done and make sure they pass their classes. In our society, there is a stigma that you have to be smart to get an A, B's are okay but anything lower makes someone not worthy or "stupid". I can attest that I am one of these kids that strives to get an A in everything that I do. Every paper, every exam, and even every homework assignment. Do I think I'm stupid if I get a B on something, of course not; especially if it is a hard class or assignment. But do I want a B on my final report card? No. Not only do B's take away from that perfect 4.0 GPA, but it sticks out amongst the rest of the nice and shiny A's. However, the real question we need to ask ourselves is why do I care so much about not getting an A when in reality I did pass the class?
In high school we think that grades matter for getting into a college and quite frankly, they do. But colleges and jobs look for more than grades. Grades do matter and they always will but what is more important is who the person is as an individual. When someone graduates from college, grad school may care about your grades but a job won't. What matters is that you do have a degree when you finish school. No one will see what grades you got, but that you have a degree. So, if a job most likely isn't going to see your grades then why do we care so much about getting A's when all we really need are C's to pass a class?
Everyone learns in their own way and some people may just be a C student in a certain subject area, So does that mean we should punish them or frown upon them just because their brain does not work in the same way? As teachers and as a society, we need to find other ways of helping these students are the typical "C" student and find them something they can excel at. Educators need to remind themselves that not everyone has a desire to go to school or wants to learn the typical core subjects that we force everyone to take. There are so many elements we need to teach our students and this is something that goes beyond the classroom. As teachers, we need to remember this but students need to remember this as well. Yes, grades can be important but they do not define you. Being a good person and trying your best is what defines you and there are more important things to strive high in life for than getting the A.
