As I am writing this article, I have a sense of doom as my calculus exam is tomorrow. This calculus exam is one of those things you don’t worry about, as you have confidence that you know the material. Unfortunately, while taking practice exams, I realized everything I have learned over the past month has left my mind. This stress and panic I have experienced these past three days has really made me think about my life. Three days ago I was happy and optimistic for the rest of the week ahead. Now all I want to do is prevent Friday from coming. How can a feeling change that fast based on a test? Coming from high school I was validated through my grades that I was smart and I deserved to get into Holy Cross. Now that I am here it has been hard to shift that mindset. I keep thinking if I don’t continue to get A’s, someone will kick me out and tell me it was a mistake I got in. In reality that is far from the truth. Grades don’t define you. Yes, sometimes they reflect what you know, and how you applied yourself to a specific subject. Yet, it is even more important to test yourself. Did you learn all you could? Work as hard as you could? Did you get what you wanted out of a class? These self-checkups are more important than a grade. With my calculus exam approaching, I am just trying to remind myself that you define yourself, not a grade placed on an assignment.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Holy Cross chapter.