GRADES. THE THORN in every student’s side; college would be a breeze if it were not for these inane letters we must earn. What are grades? They simply classify us into groups of good, better, best. Imagine a world without any grades. No more stressing over tests or pulling all-nighters in an attempt to salvage your failing “grade”.
There are two things that grades cause: stress or indifference. Two types of students exist on any college campus: those for whom making the perfect grades preoccupies every waking moment of their lives and those that could really care less and are just as happy with an F as with an A. Granted there are varying degrees of students in between these two extremes, but assessing grades has no positive aspects.
Grades are biased as it is. It all depends on what class you take and with which professor. Some classes may produce different grades among students that are equal because of a bias in the grading or difficulty of the tests. Some teachers curve others don’t. It’s all relative to the destiny that you are dealt, and it makes grades somewhat unreliable. A grade doesn’t motivate people.
Students are either hard workers or they’re not. Adding a letter grade to their work is going to make no difference to how hard they try. After you graduate, hopefully, if you’re good at what you do, your reputation will speak for itself and your grades won’t matter to your employer.
Numerous students are reluctant to even look at their grades.. There are people who won’t even bother to take the time to go online and see what they made in a class. It simply dosn’t matter. Then there is the student who is emotionally crippled when they make a bad grade.
It is for these reasons that grades should become a thing of the past; nothing more than a bad memory from our high school days. There is simply no need for them. We are all intelligent adults who can do our work and achieve success without having to attach an A or B to what we do. Without the restrictions of grades we would be free to let go of our worries and fully focus on the task before us which is learning. Not making an A.
