Today we are going to talk about something is not directly related to human nature, but is more of a right of passage or proving ground for scholars. Grades are a common part of the school system, they are intended to measure how much we know. Yet all they are all really just letters. We let ourselves be represented by letters. We let letters prove our intelligence, we let numbers do the same thing with the ACT. Really? You think that someone who gets straight A’s is anymore intelligent than someone who is barely passing? I think you may have missed a flaw in the system referred to as motivation.

This year my grades have been… Sub par, to say the least. I have days where it bothers me, and days where it does not. This is because I have realized what grades represent. We are conditioned to always strive for that A, that single letter. That single, meaningless, letter. Sure grades get you into college, but what will you do once you arrive? College is in no way, shape, or form just grades. You have to have people skills, you have to be able to manage time, there are many skills that are required. So really, the things that we have a great need to learn are the things we are not taught; instead we learn some form of algebraic equation that we are assured we will “use later in life.” Yeah, you tell me when the average person must use quadratic expansion. Sure there are careers that use these things, but the majority do not.

If grades represent anything at all (other than a teachers like for a student) then it must be motivation, not intelligence. I can guarantee to you that some of the smartest people in the world get horrible grades. Heck, Einstein even failed math one year. Do not let yourself fall into these labels. And I know that there are people trying to come up with other ways to test our knowledge on a subject without grades and for that I commend you; however, we cannot let our country fall to such a system of letters. Think about what rides on your high school g.p.a. Everything. Which is ridiculous. You are telling me that to get into college and have a great (not good) education I must have no life and just study, study, study throughout high school? There must be other ways to measure ones self worth. Overall, the system is just one big flaw, the school systems are the eyesore of America. We sure know how to uneducate our future leaders of the country. Reform must take place.