From an early age, I had high standards for myself. I wanted so very badly to be a good girl, to do all the right things and to make everybody happy. When I started school, I was the typical “goody two shoes” and enjoyed nothing more than answering questions rightly in class or receiving praise from the teacher. My friends and classmates called me a perfectionist, and I flaunted that label proudly. After all, what was wrong with being a perfectionist if you could do everything perfectly? (Yes, I was that stuck up.)

Thankfully in high school, I became convicted of my pride and slowly started realizing that people’s worth and intelligence have no correlation to the letters on their report cards or how perfectly they follow school rules. As I saw some of my friends devalue themselves because of their lack of success in school, I became more and more disillusioned with the entire system of grades. Numbers and letters don’t define a person, and achieving a better letter or number doesn’t make one a better person. In fact, whatever shape the black ink takes on that slip of paper plays no part in the most important pursuits of life ⎯ loving others, creating beauty, and giving thanks.

No, this revelation did not mean that I gave up on school and became a truant. Rather, I had to find a new purpose for learning. While I realized that grades are a somewhat necessary tool for education, I discovered that something greater ultimately should propel both the student and the teacher in the pursuit of knowledge. Education is foremost about the delight of exploring the avenues of human thought and the desire of shaping one’s soul.

Now, I know that I’ve lost many of you there with that last sentence. I know that a desire to read great books or to study parabolas does not come naturally to all. But whatever your feelings are toward education, there has been something in your life that you have enjoyed learning. Whether that be learning how to ride a bike or teaching yourself how to play the guitar, some sort of knowledge is required for many of the things that you take pleasure in. I’m not saying that training to become a better skier is equivalent to researching a paper on Plato, but the principle is the same. Life is intricate and vast and worth exploring. Education is an opportunity to do so, and when one works hard and perseveres to grasp knowledge, one’s character and soul are strengthened.

But back to the point. Why am I writing all of this? How does it help to know what education is actually for?

As someone who has spent too much time worrying about making everything “just right,” I want to tell you that you can stop worrying about that test last semester that you didn’t do so well on. College campuses witness more than their fair share of stress, and it doesn’t have to be that way. Classes will continue to be difficult, and the late nights probably won’t disappear. You’ll still need coffee. But when you stop fretting about your GPA and instead start working hard simply because it is good and delightful to work and stretch your mind, you’ll be free.

So this next semester, take a chance on yourself and give up control of your results. College is about more than report cards, and life is about more than being the best. Sharpen not only your mind through studies but also your body through exercise and your heart through relationships with others. Live and learn because you are grateful and glad to be in a world where you can write stories, see minuscule organisms through a microscope, and build bridges. Fail with grace. Fall down, laugh, and pick yourself back up.