Midterm season: the worst part of the college experience as you are forced into pulling all-nighters to finish the mountain of assignments that have been gradually accumulating since Week 1. The stress of a single test tends to set even the best of us off, especially since the United States education system has ingrained in students the criticality of receiving good grades in order to have a successful future. But has this doomsday mindset done more harm than good? Our happiness has become inextricably tied to our academic achievement and that is unacceptable for too many reasons to count. We must do better. For us, for our friends and family members and for future generations.
Let’s go back to the past couple of weeks in which you most likely partook in several midterm exams. Maybe you passed every single one with flying colors, and if that’s the case, congratulations to you! But maybe, just maybe, you didn’t do too well on an exam—you lost track of time and put studying on the back-burner to turn your focus on other to-do list items. You flunked, you’re freaking out, so what are you gonna do now?
First and foremost, you are going to remain calm and not beat yourself up over a bad grade. Remember that everyone experiences failures throughout life and everyone has an off day occasionally. You are a normal human being and you deserve to cut yourself some slack when you aren’t perfect. Nobody is perfect, so don’t hold yourself to standards that are unattainable and will compromise your mental health.
Your mental health is much more important than any school assignment, test or grade ever will be. Happiness and mental stability should be a top-tier priority, even in college when stakes are seemingly very high. Yet, what kind of life would it be if we never allowed ourselves to make mistakes? To learn from them? The best way to handle a negative situation is to grow through what you go through. Take your failures with a grain of salt and learn from them, don’t waste an opportunity to grow as a person and become the best version of yourself you can be.
Another thing, and I cannot stress this enough: grades do not define you. Your entire future does not rest upon a single midterm exam in college. Moreover, your future doesn’t even rest upon the final grade you get in that class! You’re still going to graduate, find a career you love and excel in and have an amazing life. Never forget that you are a person worth so much more than a GPA.
I know that receiving a bad grade on a big exam can feel like the end of the world in the moment, trust me I’ve been there before, but if we learn to change our mindset to one of growth and redemption rather than one of self-pity, our lives will improve immensely.
Lastly, I’d like to share a short-and-sweet piece of advice from my mom that stuck with me throughout the entirety of my academic career: Always do your best and that’s all you can do. As finals season rolls around in a few more weeks, please remember how much value you have as a person despite your failures, and don’t forget that you can only give your all and nothing more.