Grades can mean the difference between graduating and being left behind, between obtaining a well-paying job and getting only a minimum wage, between receiving the praise of parents and incurring their wrath. Admittedly, grades and tests have their place.
Your grades also serve to give your parents some idea of how you are doing in school — for better or for worse. Little wonder that school grades are a major source of anxiety among youths.
Too much concern about grades, however, can create paralyzing stress and ignite fierce competition. Furthermore, education means more than ranking up points on tests. It means developing thinking ability, the skill of taking raw information and drawing sound, practical conclusions from it. A youth who manages to get passing grades through guessing, cramming, or even cheating never really learns how to think. And what good is a high grade in math if later on you find yourself unable to balance a checkbook?
It is thus important that you view grades, not as an end in themselves but as a helpful means of gauging your progress at school. How, though, can you achieve grades that reflect your abilities?
• Take responsibility for learning
Poor students tend to blame their poor (school) performances on sources beyond their control: unfair test questions, a prejudiced teacher; bad luck, fate, the weather. But laziness is often the real reason for low grades.
Good students, however, take responsibility for their learning. Yes, how good your grades are depends for the most part, not on factors beyond your control, but on YOU —how hard you are willing to study and apply yourself in school.
• Institute some changes or a get-tough policy with yourself
"But I do study." This is what some youths might claim. They sincerely feel they are already working themselves to the bone but getting no results. Years ago, however, researchers at Stanford University (U.S.A.) polled some 770 students and asked how much effort they felt they were putting into their schoolwork. Oddly enough, students with low grades thought they worked as hard as anybody. Yet when their study habits were examined, it was discovered that they actually did for less homework than their high-achieving schoolmates.
The lesson? Perhaps you too are not studying as hard as you think you are, and some changes would be in order.
• Study regularly
What if you are simply not in the mood for studying? Life seldom allows us the luxury of indulging in our moods. At a secular job, you will have to work every day —whether you are in the mood for it or not. So view homework as an exercise in self-discipline, a rehearsal for later work experience. Be businesslike about it.
On Test
"There will be a test next week!" These words need not cause you to panic. First of all, try to discern from your teacher's comments what kind of test it will be, such as an essay test or multiple choices. Also, in the days preceding the test, listen for clues as to what will appear in the test. Next, review your notes, textbooks, and homework assignments.
However, failing a test — especially after trying hard to pass it — can devastate your self-respect. A humiliation of failing a test may well be worth it if it spurs you on to learn from your mistakes and improve.
And as important as grades are, they are not the final judgment on your worth as a person. Nevertheless, take advantage of the time you are in school, and learn as much as you can. Usually that effort will be reflected in grades that will make you — and your parents —feel happy and satisfied.
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