I’m currently sitting here holding back tears from looking at my most updated GPA.

I mean, sure I dropped a couple of classes in the past and failed one (damn you, MFG1103 Math for Liberal Arts Majors) but, does that really define me as a student?

I feel like in college you are just a number and that number is your GPA.

Your advisor doesn’t care that you volunteered for blind cats or that you single-handedly put together a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness. Your college could honestly not care less that you secured three different internships and excelled at them all. The one and only thing that matters to them is…your GPA.

I have never been an excellent “student” whether in driving school, in high school, in college, or even in yoga class. I have a different way of learning and when I’m forced to learn a certain way (other than my own) I usually end up unsuccessful. Not to mention I have a hard time focusing on things I don’t give two hoots about (i.e. Macroeconomics. Yeah, I said it: I hate you macroeconomics!)

After I graduate and go on to secure my position in the communications field, do you really think, and let’s be honest here, do you really think I will be using the laws of supply and demand for my job…ever? No. No, I will not. With that being said, why then do colleges base your graduation rate and pretty much your whole college existence on four measly points?

In college you are encouraged to expand your horizons and join clubs and network with people. There are an innumerable amount of clubs and societies that one can join in college and all are very diversified. Most clubs, however, have requirements to join. You have to be enrolled in a certain major or you have to be taking certain classes or...wait… you have to have a 3.5 GPA? But, how are you supposed to secure a 3.5 GPA in college, when you volunteer, intern and work part-time? This question has been the bane of my existence.

According to an article on Healthline.com, suicide is the third leading cause of death among college students. Not to be all negative Nancy, but why do you think college students want to kill themselves? Because colleges set completely unattainable standards and manipulate students into thinking that if they don’t achieve these standards they will never succeed in life.

It only took me three years of higher education to comprehend this, but I have come to the realization that I probably won’t graduate at top of my class, and I am totally okay with that. It also took some personal reflection time to understand that I will never get to be a part of a club or society in college. I definitely had my bouts of extremely mild depression while working through these ideals. But I realized that if someone who graduated with a higher GPA than me applies for the same job as I do, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they have a better chance of getting the job than I do.

What is important in the real world is character, experience and face-to-face interactions. About 90% of jobs deal with other people. How well you interact with others speaks volumes to a 3.95 GPA. Keep that in mind when you get an email from your advisor saying that you probably won’t graduate on time because you have a 1.97 GPA and need a 2.0 to graduate. And always, always remember, Cs get degrees.