Do You/ Did you Get Good Grades in School?

[dude_moose]

My grades in school have been between 90-100 since as long as I can remeber, except for an 84 in math last year (that was a hard class!), and an 88 in gym last quarter (my gym teacher grades the fitness test we do and I ran "the mile" in 8.5min and the state standard is 7.5min, I passed the rest.. so I got a 70 for that unit. Nice huh?). I really don't care too much about how high or low my grades are (except the gym one which got me more than a little mad), I just like the challange and learning stuff. I take all honors/AP level classes. I like to make the most of what school offers (free college credit yay). Hopefully I'll make the top 20

[MeganD.]

Go you academics! People who do well in school usually love to learn and that's a very admirable and awesome thing I'm reading in many of your posts.

I've always enjoyed school.

In high school I was a jock and a half. Almost too much so, but I needed it. I'm the type to get bored extremely easily and although I got the good grades and my SAT scores left little need to worry about college, I thrived on and lived for volleyball, soccer and swimming. (I was a state ranked swimmer in the 100m butterfly, was on a v-ball team that was second in state and captained a soccer team that won county for the first time in the school's history...boomchacka ) Obviously, I was proudest of my accomplishments on the field, court or pool because I worked extremely hard at them and although academics were important I never felt made or broken by grades. Shoot, as a teenager I spent most of my time in class feeling more qualified to judge my accomplishments than the majority of the teachers we had. Yes, I was THAT kind of teenage dirtbag.

After graduating from the University of Colorado I remember missing the opportunity to sit in a room and discuss a book with 20 people, the rush of ethics debates, the intense concentration needed to properly complete experiments in lab, or the chance to simply listen to stories from professors who spent time with Stanley Kubrick and Jack Kerouac. I loved the whole university environment and during my time there it became more and more clear education is about wanting to learn and about being fascinated by new things; unfortunately, sometimes grades don't reflect that. I did extremely well at CU, but again, grades were almost an after thought. Sometimes I would forget to check them completely and didn't know my actual GPA until I needed transcripts to get into art school some years later. Go me..lol.

Now at art school I've never worked harder in my life. Anyone who says that artists are slackers has never had an 8 hour figure drawing class three times a week or painted minute details in the extremely unforgiving medium of gouache. The classes here drain me more than calculus or physics EVER did. But I love the way I feel when I walk out of an intense drawing class or finish an animation project that has taken me 8 months to complete. The satisfaction I get from creating something is indescribable. So even at the Academy of Art, especially here, grades just don't really matter. What matters is that you love what you do. If you love it, chances are you'll be great at it.

Still, if there is anyone here who will be heading to college soon, I DO have one bit of advice for you that will without a doubt help your GPA enormously. Know how to write a paper. You will use this knowledge in every class. Know the keyhole method, know how to quote and know how to write and support a thesis. You will be shocked to realize how many professors will literally overlook your content and give you an A simply because you put together a well organized paper. Which tells you how few well organized papers profs actually receive.

So here's my summary of wannabe sage and oracle advice: Take heart all you non-brainiacs. If you can BS in the proper format, you can get a degree.

And good luck to all fellow students who are plugging through finals!

MeganD.

[Dragon_gal]

I always knew what I wanted to do from a young age, so I knew I had to work hard to accomplish this. I think if you have a goal, its easier to realise why you need to study hard for good grades and that makes it easier to do so.

I love my job, but still have to study hard throughout my career to make sure I make the most of it.

[duotrouble]

Yeah, I usually blew the curve for everyone too. I got into trouble with my parents if I received a B or lower. If I were to take a test home that had to get signed and it was say a 95%, my father would look me in the eyes and ask why it wasn't 100%. That's easy! I never studied. I was always honor roll and in the National Honor Society all my school career.

When I went to college, I had to take placement exams so they'd know what level English, Math, etc to start you at. I broke the curve for the math exam by getting 100% plus all the bonus questions. I wound up taking Calculus for fun since I had to have at least one math to graduate. I picked a 5 credit hour class over a 3 so I could become a sophomore faster.

So nowadays, I'm just lazy. I love my job but I don't use my abilities to their full capacity. Imagine one day I should.

[Elfstalker]

I'm still in college right now. I'll be graduating with a Bachelor's in Biology with a Microbiology concentration. I can't say I'm an A student, only average, but a degree is a degree.

In high school I was a band geek. Band geeks tended to be the smarter kids in my school, and it was no big thing to get high grades since all my friends were doing the same.

Since I started college though, my GPA dropped. I'm constantly being 'distracted' by all kinds of hobbies which demand my time. Anime is a big thing. But I won't blame anime for my grades since anime helped me define 'me.'

I've also gotten more lazy over the years. Since I'll be applying for graduate school, I better get my butt in gear and actually use my brain! I hafta use my college edumacation somehow.

[hanaeleh]

I guess I'll throw my two cents in here. I did well in high school, fine in college, and better in graduate school... although I am still peeved about my student teaching- the teachers I was under all gave me excellent marks, but the observer from Concordia ended up giving me a final grade of a B, which threw me from a 4.0 to a 3.8 final GPA for both my credential and my masters. That destroyed me as I was intending on trying to get into a doctoral program at Oxford. But oh, well.

Grades are subjective, really, but I definitely think that there's a need for them... I would rather not know, for example, if my surgeon got a C in one of his or her medical classes. On the other hand, most of my favorite students are the "C" students- they understand the majority of what we're doing, but they just don't know how to take it to the next level. Or, they're just inherently lazy but brilliant as hell.

What drove me away from becoming a vet, however, were my teachers in high school in math and science. I did fairly well in both subjects for a while, and really enjoyed them... but it was work and I had a few difficult teachers, some negative experiences... and that was that. English and history were always that much easier for me, so when I was trying to get into college, I entered as an English major- I might not have gotten in under science. I had always planned on switching my major when I entered college, but never bothered as I started to really enjoy humanities.

My parents never said anything to me about my grades, ever. I always knew what I could do, and the grade was more of whether I wanted to put forth the effort. v I could not study and get B's, or I would actually have to work for the A. *shrugs*

[KT]

From 1-5 grade I had very good grades. From 6th to now (8th grade) I have average/not so average grades. I mostly get B's with one or two C's and an F (stuipd math -.-)

[LinaLoN]

Reading all of your posts makes me ALMOST want to go back to education and try really hard. ALMOST becuase I really don't want to waste any more money on college if I'm just going to fail all of my classes again. Plus books, like Hell I'm going to college again around here I'd have to dorm in New York, I'd have to get a job to help pay off college loans and so on... where as working Full Time I just have to put up with stupid bosses that screw up and in the end you have to make up for it and paying for Rent for living with my parents.

Besides, I can HARDLY spell anymore let alone go back to the abyssmal hole I call MATH! I mean I make GOURRY look like a college graduate! See what I mean. My own personal HELL would be locked in a closet having to do math, forced to eat only Salmon in a can and listening to Neil Diamond. No matter how hard I try except for Trig. I can't do well on math tests! I doubt myself too much and get everything wrong. Also ALGERBA is my #1 enemy... mention Quad. Eqautions and I'll Dragon Slave you!

[Cloud]

Once more? Nearly so. Good reason. You really do? What would you rather be doing? No really, it's true.

[LinaLoN]

You really do? What would you rather be doing?

I'd rather be locked in a closet watching Slayers, eating Chocolate, listening to Sheryl Crow and hugging my LoN cels!

[shellie]

Thought I was a pretty sharp cookie until I started reading here!! Geez louise, you guys are all egg-heads!!

Don't know if it amounts to much, but I've always considered you a sharp cookie.

Thanks, BH! It does indeed amount to much! I "appersheate" it (as they say here in Ahia! heehee!)

[Cloud]

[quote]

smile Thanks BH indeed amount to much?

[MeganD.]

My own personal HELL would be locked in a closet having to do math, forced to eat only Salmon in a can and listening to Neil Diamond.

*LOL* Substitute sewing, cooking, untangling necklaces or ANYTHING remotely delicate and/or domestic for math and I'm right there with you. And the musical choice would be appropriate as I AM a closet Neil fan...harhar.

Come on...you gotta at least be tempted to hum along with Sweet Caroline.

[hanaeleh]

Come on...you gotta at least be tempted to hum along with Sweet Caroline.

Ha! That song brings back memories- there was a rugby team that would go to a pub I used to hang out in and play that song.

Near the end of the night they would put it on, and you'd have about 50 or so... ah... rather tipsy people (most of them rather large men) singing that song aloud.

Nothing like depleting the brain cells... ah, the memories....

[Cloud]

Ah hah.