Often times, people treat GPA as one of the most important things in their school career. In today’s school systems, we are trained to have this mindset because throughout high school the importance of a GPA was emphasized for college applications. Now, you’re in college and one step closer to the real world. After graduation, you will begin your job search in hopes that your GPA would be your gateway to the career of your dreams. But is GPA really everything?
There is a lot of pressure on today’s generation of college students. Be well rounded, get good grades, assume leadership roles, give back to your community, and get a work-study job. Students start every semester with a spotless mindset to succeed. Fast forward six weeks and you are left wondering if you’ll even have time to feed yourself today. The papers pile up, midterms come faster than expected, and you’re sitting in the library panicking because for the first time in your academic career one single exam determines 40% of your grade.
After a very, very, very, long week of finals, college students across America are full of mixed emotions. Some feel accomplished, as they should, and others left campus for the holidays feeling full of discouragement. Regardless of what end of the scale you land on, you must remember that you are not your GPA.
Some courses are more vigorous than others and some can be defined as, “An easy A class”. A student taking Organic Chemistry is bound to spend more time in the library than someone who is taking a class called, “Making Babies”. This is something that those three numbers known as GPA do not account for and a major reason why they do not define you.
Another aspect of a college student’s life that GPA does not take into consideration is extracurricular activities. There are endless opportunities to become involved on a college campus between Greek life, political orgs, community service programs, Her Campus, organizations related to your major, and the list is really endless. Involvement in leadership activities, on top of your academic coursework, and working part-time as a student turns your daily routine into a balancing act.
A GPA also does not represent who you are as a person. It will not prove to future employers the kind of energy you will bring to the workplace. It does not indicate the amount of hours you will stay in the office to make sure your pitch for the meeting tomorow is absolutely perfect. A GPA more accurately conveys your ability to guess C on a mutliple choice test when you don’t know the answer than it does your passion for your work.
Your GPA is not everything. It does not define you. However, grades are still important. Those three numbers are not an accurate measure of your worth to a potential employer, and are more of a weeding tool when it comes to resumes, but that does not mean you should not work hard to achieve all that you can. The purpose of college is to catapult you into your career. Take the hard class because you will learn more through the struggle than you would if you had it easy. Study hard and work for what you want because it will be the only choice you have in the real world. But remember one bad grade is not detrimental to your career because YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR GPA.