I do this usual post every year on how great uni is and what a life experience it will be, but I never get down to my actual opinions on university, and how grades have defined us for our life.
I have never felt the smart girl, and I’ll tell you that right now. I might as well accept that in terms of ‘grades’ I have never been outstanding. I definitely didn’t get an A* in my A Levels and I wasn’t picked out for gifted and talented.
I didn’t shine in Sports, I wasn’t perfect at Geography and I didn’t get picked as top of my class. Believe me, that really put me down as I grew up.
I felt as if I was nothing and what was the point in trying? I wasn’t good and I wasn’t seen as brilliant in my class. I constantly felt stupid for taking a little longer to understand something in Maths or not being able to name every country on the map.
To this day, I don’t feel perfect because of my grades, and I know a lot of people feel the same way. And you should understand that if you are smart and you get excellent grades, this isn’t some kind of insult towards you.
This is for everyone who doesn’t want to be defined by grades, labels or put in boxes.
Suli Breaks wrote an excellent spoken word piece on our grades, and I no longer felt alone when I heard it. I have to admit that he is a real influence on the pieces I write and try to perfect. He helped me to understand that you don’t need grades to feel as if you’re achieving something in life.
We all achieve in different ways and we should be congratulated when we follow our dreams. If you failed English at GCSE and had to take it a fews time before you passed, does that make you less competent?
Not at all.
I’m pretty sick of the people who feel less than who they are because they didn’t get into their first choice of university. Or the person who can’t understand Shakespeare and only wants help, but will never receive it.
Even though I don’t know you, I think you’re damn amazing as who you are.
We have different attributes, different skills and different ways to dealing with life.
We are all individual and what defines us is who we are.
We will be defined by what we leave behind and who we encourage along the way.
We will be defined by how we deal with what is thrown at us and what we achieve in life.
So whether you got an A or an F today, if you get a C in that test you’re dreading or if you fail one GCSE… remember that you will never defined by a grade.
It is one letter on a piece of paper.
It can mean nothing if you really consider it.
LegallyFierceFeminist 