Opinion

GPA-obsessed students

My worth is not judged by some number

By Eric Russell

Posted on May 08, 2003, at 12:00 a.m.

First appeared Oct. 31, 2002

I got an 82 on a test last week. Not too bad. I was relatively pleased with the grade, but while I surveyed the questions and answers to see where I erred, I began to observe among my classmates what has become an all-too-familiar trend: College students put way too much frickin’ emphasis on their grades.

I honestly couldn’t give two shits about my grade point average. I’m not out to win any academic excellence awards or graduate magna cum laude from this prestigious university. However, it seems lately like I am the only one around who isn’t stressing about numbers like 3.3 or 3.6.

My grade point average is not really that high, though I consider myself an educated person. You see, my education – and ultimately my intellect – is not measured on a scale of zero to four. It is measured by those who know me. As far as the rest of you go, I don’t have anything to prove.

I know, it seems crazy, right? I’ll admit there was a time when I too allowed the pressures of grading to consume my thoughts. Back in high school and even my first year of college, grades meant as much to me then as a bag of chronic does now.

But it occurred to me somewhere along the line that my life will probably never come down to how I did on some test, or how I did in a particular class, or even what my college GPA was.

As cheesy as it may sound, I have learned far more from this university and my years of higher education outside of the classroom than in. No, this doesn’t include learning how to successfully still be drunk when you wake up Sunday morning, I’m talking about something else.

I’m talking about the experience that is unique to all of us, intrinsic in nature and hopefully related to our field of expertise, but sometimes not. You may not realize it at the time, but this is the stuff that will dictate where your future is going.

It can’t be found in the classroom and sometimes it takes longer for others to find. I know it took me a lot longer than I would care to admit. If it sounds like I am preaching, it’s because I am. But believe me, you’ll know it when you find it.

I will graduate in May with my degree in the dying field of print journalism and from there, well, who knows? But I do know this. If I ever go into a job interview and someone asks me what my GPA in college was, I will look them straight in the eye and say, “What does it matter?”

They will see on my resume that I have all the necessary experience and references, but maybe they will be curious to see how smart I was, or how smart they think I was, based on some number. But, I assure you without hesitation, that I will not budge.

So, my advice to you is this. Put grades aside for a little while. Concentrate your efforts into actually gaining knowledge and information rather than getting your A.

Eric Russell is a senior journalism major.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2003, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.