As the school year kicks back up again, students across the nation are placed into five letter categories: A, B, C, D, and F. The students with the higher grades, gifted with high intelligence and a vast love for learning, look back at their academic achievements with awe and pride. However, the students not in those respective categories look at their grades and sigh. 

This set of students, the ones that are not considered “golden” students with perfect grades and high participation, not only face disappointment from within themselves, but often get reprimanded by adults, parental figures, and teachers. They criticize their own child or student as if the grades they have earned are a true reflection of who they are as a human being, not only making the child feel worse, but also making them question their entire self-worth.

If this applies to you, do not listen to them. You didn’t listen to them when they told you to clean your room, so why should you listen to them now? The grades that are given to a student in their academic classes are not an accurate depiction of a person’s intelligence, worth, or potential, and should not define them as a person. 

I want you to meet my friend, Mary. Mary is constantly getting criticized for her academic performance in school. She has been called lazy, irresponsible, and careless, all because she doesn’t have an ideal GPA. 

Those who criticize her fail to recognize that Mary suffers from severe anxiety and ADHD. It takes a lot just for Mary to get up and go to school, let alone focus on a specific assignment. 

Due to her struggles, she finds getting good grades incredibly difficult, and instead of helping her improve, she is continuously berated for things she can’t control. The criticism that she receives does not, in fact, motivate her. These words belittle her and make it even harder for her to focus. 

The truth is, Mary is actually a very intelligent person. She has taught me many historical and financial concepts that I would have never learned if it weren’t for her. Additionally, she is one of the nicest people I have ever met; she’s loyal, funny and she has this special gift to make people feel better in an instant. 

Instead of basing our opinions on the grades we receive, we should be celebrating the qualities that make people themselves. 

To fully assess how different types of people think, a study was carried out by a German creative agency, ResearchGate, showing that 41% of earth-dwellers are left-brained, and 27% are right-brained. 

Generally, left-brain thinkers tend to excel in analytical and logical tasks, such as concepts in mathematics and science, and right-brain thinkers demonstrate creativity, imagination, and emotional intelligence and excel in writing, history, and the arts. Both types of thinkers have their own strengths and weaknesses, often reflecting the scores they receive in school.

Instead of focusing on a right-brain’s success in world history or literature, teachers and adults rely on the lower grades in classes like geometry or biology to criticize their performance. 

Personally, I think that as long as the student has the general idea of how to complete basic math and science problems, then they are able to succeed in their respective career paths. A student doesn’t need to have the top score in AP Calculus if they desire to become a lawyer in the future. As long as they try their best in their classes and pursue a career that they feel deeply passionate about, then they can succeed.

Now I have to be honest. I personally have never received anything lower than an A in a class before, and I am the type of person to stress myself out for days over a test that probably doesn’t even matter. I do, in fact, take pride in the grades I receive in my classes, but I do not let them define me. 

Having good grades and an outstanding academic performance is wonderful, but basing your opinion of a person on their successes or lack thereof is not okay to do. 

Now there are some exceptions. Simply not caring in school or sitting on your phone instead of actually doing your assignments won’t do. 

Those actions reflect laziness and irresponsibility that can most definitely show who you are as a person. Not only will this set you up for failure in the future, but it will also showcase you in a negative light.

The truth is, not everyone has an interest in all subjects. A student could excel in United States history but struggle in pre-calculus. A student could suffer from mental health problems or issues at home that can affect how they perform in school. 

A student could’ve just been having a bad day during the time of the big test.  

Unnecessarily criticizing these students for their non-perfect performance degrades their self-worth. Instead of denouncing them for things that they can not control, we should be embracing the wonderful qualities that make them who they are. 

To quote cwote.co: “A bad grade doesn’t make you a bad person.”