As every college student is counting down the days to the end of the semester, the stress level of each of us is at an all-time high. The assignments from our professors are piling up. The amount of sleep we get each night is decreasing at a steady rate and the numbers of emotional breakdowns we are having are becoming detrimental to our health. The procrastination we have finally mastered is no longer working in our favor, and the hopes for that 4.0 GPA this semester are being thrown out of the window. If you’re a normal college student, the end of the semester is the most stressful time of the year.

You are probably questioning yourself on your choice to even go to college in the first place. Or if you are like me, you just give up and grab a bag of Cheetos, crawl into bed, and watch Grey’s Anatomy for the next 6 hours. No matter how you are dealing with your stress or lack thereof, there is an important truth that you should keep in mind as we are heading into Final Exam Week. Write it on your hand, on your notebooks, even on your ceiling. It is imperative to your mental health that you remember this simple truth: You’re grades do not define you.

Last semester I was two points away from a C- in calculus. A C- was all I needed to still be eligible for vet school. When I got my final grade back, I broke down; I told myself I was a failure and my dreams were shattered. As I was obnoxiously feeling bad for myself, I looked down and noticed someone had written your grades do not define you on the sidewalk, right below the steps I was standing on.

Our grades do not define us? Then why are we in school? We are taught that everything we do now will affect our futures, but this is simply not true. That D+ did not tell me I wasn’t smart, it didn’t determine my future, and it didn’t change my core identity. Yes, it hurts to barely miss our goals, but sometimes we have to fail in order to succeed. I signed up to retake calculus this semester, and am on track to end up with either a B+ or A- (if my professor likes me). We make mistakes and we don’t always make the best grades, but they don’t change whom we are; they don’t tell us whom we are.

You didn’t study long enough or you waited until the night before to write the research paper you had all semester to write. You overslept on your study session and have no clue what is going to be on the final. You didn’t plan out your time well and now can’t enjoy the weekend. We make mistakes: we don’t always put academics before everything else, and we sometimes put too much stress on ourselves to make the best grades possible. Look at every mistake as a lesson, a lesson to learn what to do better next time. Laugh at every failed test and let it fuel you to work harder. Let go of the stress and know everything will get done. Stop trying to control your future and just let things play out the way they are supposed to be.

Don’t tell yourself that you aren’t smart, or that you are a failure, or all the other ridiculous things we say when we make a bad grade because our grades do not define us. We are heading into exam week; you will probably get an average of three hours of sleep a night, you will drink more caffeine than is even safe, and you will probably have more than a few breakdowns, but you are still going to be the same person. No matter what happens, you will not change. You will still have food to eat, you will still have family and friends that love you dearly, and you are still going to be beautiful. So go into exam week with confidence and believe in your abilities. Sit down at that desk and give 100 percent effort. And no matter what the final grade is, remember: your grades do not define you.