Throughout high school I was on the highest honor roll all 4 years; never receiving more than 2 B's. I was proud and full of myself. Everything came easy, I put little effort into studying. And somehow despite my little efforts, I felt like I was a genius. What a joke. Freshman year of college rolled around and I spent more time studying and a lot of time reading. I was still getting high grades and life was good, and I was still “a genius”. With 3 major changes and sophomore year started, I began to dedicate more and more time, but I noticed that grades didn't simply come just for completion. That completing the assignment will earn maybe a B or a C. I did what I could and still managed to do pretty well considering.

First semester of junior year started out the same. I had high hopes and expectations of myself and of my courses. But very quickly I realized that this wouldn’t last. I spent even more time than the previous years on projects and homework, trying to divvy up my time dependent upon my perception of the level of importance. Looking back I am proud of all that I have accomplished, even though at the time it was more like frustrated with myself and stressed out that I wasn’t getting the grades I wanted. With the workload, I went through the semester not as a stellar student, but more average, some days slightly less.

So I took a step back. A few months ago, in one of my classes that I ironically didn't do so well in, I read an article that focused on the Google company and it’s hiring process. The article focuses on Lazlo Block, head of Google’s hiring department, and what it takes to get a job. Looking back, I remember him saying that it doesn’t matter if you simply get all A’s and excellent grades. He stated that if you can get good grades in harder subjects then it is noticed and held higher than taking easy courses for easy A’s. I’d like to think that my grades do not show minimal effort when that is entirely not the case. Rather, I’d like them to show that I challenged myself, struggled at times, but still learned in the process. As a media arts major with a minor in business, I am studying 2 polar opposite fields. I hope that while it’s a challenge, I am bettering myself. After all, that’s what I’m here for. So don’t beat yourself up when the grades aren’t reflecting your work, as long as the effort is there it shows.