Transitioning from high school to college can be tough. Whether it be the people, the classes, or the new environment, college is much different from high school. This can be a good thing for some and a bad thing for others. Either way, college provides students with something new: a new way to view the world and a chance to learn what you are really about.
Coming into college, I did not have any specific expectations for myself academically, aside from trying my best with my work and achieving fairly high grades. However, once I began college, it became clear to me that maintaining a 4.0 GPA was one of my priorities.
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to achieve the highest grades possible and feeling proud for doing so. There is just one aspect of GPA that can be, problematic for college students: an obsession with your GPA.
Although I have a healthy balance between grades, work, extracurriculars, my social life, and personal time, I fear that my desire to maintain my 4.0 will take precedence over potentially life-changing and wonderful experiences. "If I take on this activity, will I still be able to maintain my 4.0? Should I go out with my friends tonight or give myself a break, or should I continue studying for that exam?"
I have always made school a top-priority, making sure that all of my work is completed and preparing for any exams coming up. But is there a cost to this? One side of me says that I need straight A's every semester, but another side of me says that a B every now and then won't do much harm. From what I have gathered, there really isn't that much difference between, say, a 3.8 and a 4.0, but for some people this may be the difference between getting accepted and rejected into their graduate school of choice.
Even though I continue to strive for a 4.0, I am willing to prioritize different aspects of my life according to what I feel is most important. From my own experience, and from what I've seen in my peers, grade obsession is very real and it is serious. Not only do people who are obsessed with grades expect themselves to do extremely well academically, but they often beat themselves up if they don't meet their goals. Clearly, this is not healthy.
That being said, I believe that focusing on your academics while is college is a must. No matter how many people tell me that my GPA does not matter, I continue to be steadfast in my belief that it does, even if only to say that I tried my hardest throughout college, but did so in a healthy way.
