For many of us, it's finals week, the most dreaded week of the quarter. All the hard work and countless hours of studying can either be wasted or rewarded. Despite both parties putting in a respectable amount of work, some will fall short of their expectations, and some will exceed any notion of what they thought was possible.
Either way, there's a certain amount of luck involved, and however your finals go, please remember one simple thing: You are not your GPA. I've heard this phrase several times -- usually accompanied by any eye roll on my part -- but it really is true. Your GPA is a construct of the mind like gender, race, socioeconomic status, etc. It is devoid of a determinate nature, it has value only to those who assign it value, and is a dualistic way of classifying students: scholar or dropout, straight-A student or Mr. "Cs gets degrees," working student, or trust fund baby. Like either social constructs, the notion of a GPA divides people in an "us and them" nature, when it really doesn't mean anything at all.
When I was in high school, I thought having a 4.0 legitimately made me a better person. I felt like I was winning at life by keeping to a strict study schedule, depriving myself of a social atmosphere, and getting A's. I was the girl that a had a 4.0, that was always over-prepared for any test, and that everyone asked for help. That girl, I thought, was my being.
Until I went to college and got a B+ my first quarter. I was ashamed and angry , as something I had worked so hard to maintain for so many years walked away from me. But my GPA wasn't the problem. That fact that I had allowed it to control my happiness, ideas of self-worth, and livelihood, was the problem.
Having a 4.0 doesn't make you better at life, and having a 2.0 doesn't make you a slacker. Numbers cannot encapsulate your worth.
If you have found yourself stuck in the GPA-self-worth rut, think of all the things about you that actually matter: how happy you make others around you, how good of a sister/brother, mother/father, parent/child, or friend you are, how creative you are, and everything else you bring into the world. You are more than the three digits that your GPA describe you as. So, so much more.
