Having been at a Quaker school my whole life, I've never had grades or a GPA. Pretty weird, huh? I know. Now, as I go to a public university, I now have both letter grades and a GPA. At first, that used to freak me out. I used to be so afraid of what the letters meant and how they would affect this number that determined how good of a student I was. How well I did in high school wasn't as much of a stresser for me, as I just did the best I could. Now, how well I did was being more seriously measured. Now that I'm done with my first semester of college, I know that both letter grades and GPA are nothing to be afraid of. In fact, they are sort of rewarding. They motivate me to work towards that "A+". Here are a few things I learned about myself academically and college in general, my first semester of college as someone who's never had grades in their life.

1. They don't have to stress you out. In fact, don't let them.

At the beginning of the semester, I was constantly stressing over my grades. It was making me miserable. I learned that I just had to work my hardest. I couldn't push myself over the edge and make myself miserable anymore. If working my best wasn't an A, that's okay.

2. You ultimately control what grades you make.

If you don't study or go to class, you will not pass. End of story.

3. It's all up to you now.

Nobody is forcing you to do ANYTHING. The grades you make and what you do is all up to you.

4. Making good grades is incredibly rewarding.

Making a good grade on something is so rewarding, especially when you stayed up until 4:00 A.M. working on something and you get it back with the grade you were hoping for. It's worth it to lose sleep working on assignments sometimes (don't over do it though)!

5. It's okay to skip out on fun things sometimes in order to study.

There were plenty of times I wanted to go hang out with my friends instead of study. It's okay to say no to going out sometimes to study. You're at college for an education. Although you should definitely have fun in college, make school your first priority.

Overall, my first semester in college I learned that GPA and letter grades are nothing to be scared of. All you can do is try your best.