Its funny, how these two weeks are forcasted to be cold, miserable, wet, colorless, and devoid of life. Much like college students all around the country. Yes, you guessed it. Its finals time. For the next two weeks the majority of college students around the country are going to be zombies running on little to no sleep, spending hours in the library cramming for an exam worth the majority of their grade, consuming everything from black coffee to adderall in order to stay focused and try to acheive that oh so needed grade.
Yet its pathetic really. It is pathetic that this behavior is even neccessary, and it is pathetic that we place so much value in a grade, when it is really just a number. At the end of your college path does it really matter? I mean whats the difference in someone with a 2.5 GPA and a 4.0 GPA. Honestly? Nothing, because they both have a college degree, and I assure you the person with the 2.5 had a hell of a lot more fun earning that degree. So why as a society do we still place so much value on a number? on a letter?
I will tell you why. Its because it gives us a sense of purpose. We as humans feel the need to seperate ourselves from one another. We want to be different. We do not wish to be part of a herd that is viewed as one cohesive unit where one animal is indistinguishable from another, other than a few asthetic features.
Ok. Im sitting here writing this, and keep going back and forth. Should we have grades or should we not. And honestly my brain is arguing both sides. yes they are good, no they suck. And I think it depends on the situation. I am inherintly selfish so when I know I have worked my ass off and I know the material and can do it way better than someone else, then of course I want to be recognized for it. Of course I want that "A+" however, if I am performing at a mediocre level, its like why? Why should we be graded, I know just as much as that star pupil does, so why cant we both just pass the class and be done?
Honestly, It is 5 am and I dont even know where I am going with this anymore. This is litterally just brain fart on a page. Kind of like stream of conscious but a little more cohesive. However stream of conscious royally sucks, and for those of you who dont know what it is, I advise you to never read "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." Of course unless you enjoy having your brain screwed with, then be my guest.
Wow, I think my brain may actually be fried, and it could be due to the copious amounts of black coffee I have been drinking along with an increased nicotene intake in order to pull all nighters to study for subjects that will be insignifigant in a few years, or it could be due to the lack of sleep. But I am going to roll out of this bed in approximatly four hours, drag myself to a study session, and then go back to the library where I will continue to not sleep, drink coffee, and fill my brain with information that I will forget within the week.
But anyways, Happy Finals to everyone and as Effie always tells us "May the odds be ever in your favor" except really, were all screwed except for that one person who makes a 100 on the final and screws the curve for the rest of us, leaving us metaphorically dead with our C & D's while they enjoy the A+ of a Victor. (yeah, totally brain fried... for those of you who haven't read the hunger games, just ignore this last paragraph)
I think you would enjoy reading Blake, he is a big fan of this whole looking at the world through two different lenses. I agree that it sucks to dwell on the grades, but we have to don't we? Blake would say we need both, not at the same time but switching back and forth. We need to look at the serious and experienced side of life, strive for the grades, job, success. But also take a moment and switch to a more fun, innocent lens to see the ridiculousness in our never-ending journey to feel reassured and reaffirmed of our hard work. Good points, great read!
ReplyDeleteP.S.- Love "Portrait of the Artist" fun piece of literature right there.