The phrase “Pain is temporary, GPA is forever” is Darwinism taken too far. I’m not sure what exactly it accomplishes. From my understanding, this is just another meme and few people, if anyone, take it seriously. Regardless of its seriousness though, it doesn’t send a positive message, and it adds further negative thoughts to the kinds of mentalities college students tend to have about nearly everything. The more you say it or the more you hear it from others, you can’t help but begin to believe it. This kind of stress and paranoia I'm not very comfortable with.

Part of it is probably a result of eight-nine years (give or take) of being used to getting "A"'s throughout elementary, middle, and high school while letter grades were in effect. That feeling was nice, satisfying, and comforting. The fruits of our academic labor were ripe and delicious. It was one less thing to worry about. For many students in college, despite dealing with problems like drama, moving, relationships, and getting jobs or a license, most of the time they did not fear that they would fail or do poorly on a test or assignment as long as they at least did the minimum work required. But it is possible that those years of our life were pretty much D-League level academically and then once we hit college, it moved up to NBA status. You cannot expect a typical superstar in the Developmental League in basketball to be a superstar, especially not right away, in the NBA. Likewise, maybe it wasn’t wise for us to expect ourselves to get the same grades we got in high school as often in college.

Also, we worry too much about isolated incidents. If we are worried about our grades, it is usually because we put in a lot of effort to make sure the worst case scenario never occurs. No one has ever been completely derailed from their career path or education because of one failed test or one underperformance in a class. By the time someone is in danger of being dismissed, it’s usually a result of a long series of setbacks. Or people leave college or put their education on hold for reasons completely unrelated to academics. Regardless of the case, as long as we are giving it our all, there is no way we will be severed from our dreams. If anything, we would only be rerouted into the one we are meant to be following.

Finally, a trend that has been consistent for as long as we can remember is despite how complex human beings are, we already return to judging others and ourselves by a few numbers. Whether it be championship titles or stats for athletes, money for billionaires or CEOs, approval ratings for presidents, or salary for working-class people, we minimize people down to one aspect of their lives that is supposed to define who they are. Our lives are not all about our schoolwork. We are more than our GPA, or test scores, or the college we go to. My personality is not entirely based on my major or my enrollment at UC Davis; it is a combination of several factors.

So on one hand I wait nervously to find out what my GPA for spring quarter is. On the other, I know that I did my best and I have no regrets. Everything I have accomplished, or failed to, has gotten me to where I am, and I am satisfied being here. So I have faith that wherever I go in the future is wherever I’m most needed.