In today’s day and age many adolescents put their time and energy into getting good grades. Throughout school we are told by parents, teachers, and even friends that these factors are important. Vital, they say. These letters and percentages can help us get into colleges, win awards and scholarships, and look good on a resume. We put so much time into getting an A on the test, but do not always remember the significance of an education and what it actually means to learn.
Getting “Good Grades”
For students nowadays, there is so much pressure placed on doing well in school, which is somehow translated into getting the highest percentage on a quiz. It is just a number, yet somehow we panic if that number falls anywhere below what we believe it should be. We create so much tension to get these grades, constantly losing sleep (by studying for hours and pulling all nighters) over it.
Often times, we are looking for an achievement to share with our grandparents at the next family get-together or impress the interviewer with, which can be quite a good feeling. If you get good grades, that is fantastic and a large shoutout to you for all of your hard work. Take pride in all of your dedication towards academic success.
So you’re an honor student? Honor classes are an incredible way to really dive into and involve yourself with the subject matter. On the other hand if you are only doing all the work and assignments to fit what your teacher wants, then you are skipping over the whole point of taking such an in depth class. How much does a title really mean if you aren’t taking something truly meaningful and applicable away from it?
Maybe you don’t fit inside the box of a straight A student. School should be meant to fit you, not you it. Some of the most genius minds didn’t do well in school. They were creative and so inventive that they didn’t shape themselves in to the mold of a curriculum. When they found the thing that they were really passionate about, their drive kicked in and they made it a part of their every day life.
Golden Circle
What is important is if you are getting something out of the information you are being given. Learning only happens when you can apply it to experience.
For example, in my Advertising class we talked about Simon Sinek’s TEDTalk How great leaders inspire action, which involves a diagram called the golden circle. It is a business model that explains the what, how, and why behind a company. This golden rule states to not work first by what you do, but rather why you do it.
Inspired by my class, I went home to create a golden circle of my own in order to find my “why” that sets up not only my actions, but also my beliefs. This task has impacted and directed my life every day since then with the attitude to “experience everything”.
I was able to take the information given to me in class and apply it to my own life. That is what counts.
What It Means to Learn
We are not truly learning if we do not retain the information, nor if it does not somehow affect the way we process and act in our lives. The information that you are taught should be abled to be applied to practically anything.
Memorizing the answers is not learning. Reciting and regurgitating every fact that you hear in class is not learning. Reflect on what you take in. Apply the information you learn to not only your other classes, but what you do from day to day. It’s great to have a strong work ethic and time management skills, but it will only be fulfilling if you are able to take those skills and find the information that can build to your own truth.
Why spend the time and money into getting those stellar A’s if we aren’t going to actually use the material anyways? That is just a huge waste of energy, and ultimately life.
Obviously, you’re not going to be totally in love with every class that you take. You may not use Advanced Calculus every day of your life, nor need to know the exact day that the Civil War started. Every one has their own interests and well-rounded doesn’t mean you have to fit into every category.
Break outside the box. Find the topics you love and run with them. Most importantly, do it for the love of learning. Be constantly curious because that curiosity will keep you open to all of the possibilities of living. It will take you farther than you’ve ever thought possible.
If you are wanting to check out Simon Sinek’s TedTalk, here is the link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?l…