I recently graduated from college. During my last semester, I eventually grew tired of one of my courses, and felt it no longer as necessary. So I didn't go for the last 2 weeks and stopped completing the assignments. It was an empowering feeling, one that I had not previously felt during my college career. I felt good, until I realized that my A in the class had turned into a B-...
It was then that I began to consider what I had done. Was it worth it? I had always been diligent in my studies, and received good grades for my effort. Was this something I would regret for the rest of my life? It turned out that while it may have lowered my GPA, it didn't change my graduating status at all. I graduated magna cum laude with my B-, and I would have graduated magna cum laude without it.
Of course, no one should want to lead a B- life, and that's not what I'm condoning. If I had a B- average, I obviously wouldn't have been able to graduate with academic honors. So when is it ok?
Life is all about balance. What did I do with the extra time, effort, and attention that became available when I gave up on that course? Did I devote those resources to something more meaningful? Unfortunately not. And that made me think.
What does my life's report card look like? Do I have an A in my career and a C in my relationships with friends and family? Am I graduating with honors in my plans for the future while having to take remedial classes for serving and caring for others? Who will look at my life 50 years down the road and give me a B-? What am I doing about that?
Who would have thought that my decision to be a slacker would cause so much introspection? I may have got a B- in the class, but if it helps me to earn an A from those I interact with... I'll consider it the best grade I ever got.
2 comments:
I thought this was an especially insightful musing and I enjoyed reading it. good points, good thoughts. I've considered life in kind of the same way (do my grades in school reflect my grades as a person?) but sometimes I think I used it to justify...like when I got that C in American Heritage "yeah I got a C, but the important thing is I had so much fun staying up til 4:00am having a water fight and sleeping through class the next day, so I've got an A+ in being an idiot!" wait. that's not good. but I do support the idea of having balance and I think my grades were more reflective of how much I liked the class and the professor.
Wow, Manning. I wouldn't have pinned you for the introspective type.
The question I have is, what do you do if you feel like you're failing in school AND in personal matters?
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