Getting Graded

It is a natural human tendency to want to categorise everything, to place items into fine columns with neat headings, and to put things in their ''right'' place. This urge to put whatever we can into particular boxes with respect to certain traits has given rise to useful systems, such as taxonomy, the science that sees the grouping of millions of different organisms into a structured hierarchy. Yet, when we persist on this innate desire, we tend to force ourselves into classifying things using almost entirely arbitrary data. When we start to classify the intelligence of students according to their high-school final grades, SAT scores, CGPA or IGCSE – exams taken once or twice in their school lives – what are the benefits? Or are there any benefits at all?

We use grades to distinguish between the “good students” and the “bad students”, between those who apparently can and those who cannot. Most of us fail to see grades for what they are – indicators of how well people performed during a fixed period. A person who gets a perfect score cannot claim to know and/or execute every aspect of the tested skill perfectly all the time. Likewise, people who fail a few tests are not automatically “failures”. In these types of exams, luck is almost as important as your level of knowledge, though most people are unable to acknowledge this (or in the case of those who do end up scoring well, refuse to do so).

The significance of grades is so deeply engraved into our minds that we believe with it we can understand the level of competency a person has in a field or on a topic. When a student gets a graded paper back, not only do the teacher and peers judge based on the number or letter written in red ink but the confidence levels of the student is also severely affected. A good grade is like a thumbs up, a “you're good to go” of sorts, but on the other side of the coin, a bad grade feels like the end of the road, an immense discouragement, even though it should not.

Grades might not be an accurate scale of intelligence, yet they should not be dismissed entirely. After all, only our university acceptances and careers depend on it. Bitterness aside, the grades on our report card generally reflect the effort we put in over the course of the preparation period. It plays a better role as a measure for perseverance than as a tool for gauging genius. It shows us how much hard work we put in. Therefore, we should interpret our grades as the summary of how well we equipped ourselves for that particular assessment, no more, no less.

Distressing factors arise when we over-emphasise on the meaning of our grades. Scoring lower than the next person does not necessarily mean you are any worse a student than him or her.  Similarly, getting the highest marks in the class does not make you a mini-Einstein. Whether you are an A* student or someone on the less admirable end of the grades spectrum, it should never serve to hinder your studies or dissuade you from your goals. No matter how much the system presses you, always believe in yourselves, not just your grades.