When I was in high school, I had straight A’s and a high average. I put relatively little effort into my schoolwork, and generally did not go beyond turning things in and showing up—and my grades were still above average. This says a lot about the public education system in California, but that is an article for a different day.
When I was admitted to Western, I was in an MIT major in FIMS—honors specialization isn’t a thing we have in the states, and so I hadn’t looked into it very much. I kind of thought that a major was a major and that was that.
Throughout my first year in MIT, I felt so frustrated. It seemed like no matter how much I studied or how hard I worked, I still couldn’t get the grades that I was used to getting in high school.  They tell you that in your first day of the program: “Welcome to FIMS. We have the same average in every class throughout university, and we will continue to have that average. Look around you. One fourth of you will make it to fourth year.” That isn’t terrifying at all.
After a particularly tough year, I was not very impressed when I found out I hadn’t met the average to continue in MIT. I cried (a lot), questioned my decision to come to Western (a lot more) and with the encouragement of my father, I decided to retake the course and try to get back into the program. I had already fulfilled all my other first year requirements, and so in an undeclared program, I decided to start taking Sociology classes as a backup plan. My marks in these courses were considerably better, and in my second year, I decided to switch to a Sociology major. In third year, I added a Criminology minor, and the summer before my fourth year, I realized that that minor could easily be a major, and show up on my degree as such. Now, I’m much happier completing a double major in two fields that I thoroughly enjoy and am fascinated by.
Throughout this whole period of switching majors and testing the waters, I put so much pressure on myself, as I tend to do. I thought that because my marks weren’t as good as my friends or as the rest of the class, that I was stupid, and that maybe university wasn’t right for me, and that maybe I should take a year off and move back home. I thought my grades defined my self-worth completely, and that if I couldn’t get a 70 on a paper, that my dreams of becoming a writer were garbage, and that I was garbage (remember when I said that thing about being too hard on myself? Yup).
Now that I’m in fourth year, and hopefully a little bit older and wiser, I’ve realized that there is so much in life that is more important than my marks. My kindness, my soul, my ability to have a genuine conversation, my family, my self-care… these are things that are so much more important than that grade that’s worth 15% of my mark. These are the things that last with you throughout the rest of your life and ultimately, what you will be remembered by—and that is so much more important.