Grades: The one thing that most of us spend half of our lives worrying about and stressing about. We let these simple numbers/letters define who we are and who we can be. If you don't understand, think of it this way—the way that most people see it:

A student: A student who tries hard in class, is naturally smart, can accomplish anything, and can grasp new ideas easily.

B student: A person who is overall good in class, might struggle with one or two things, studies pretty often, and can almost do anything.

C student: Simply average.

D student: Might turn in a few homework assignments but truly has no idea what is going on in class or does not their hardest.

F student: A student who does not try at all, does not care and will not amount to anything in life.

Now, do you understand? This is how these simple letters stereotype students and even kids at young ages. In reality, that D student might work just as hard as that A student. They might have some difficulties learning new topics and retaining information, but that should not determine if they are a "poor student" or not.

We all want to be seen as that student who is on top or gets good grades on everything because we want to feel like we can do anything we want. Our grades determine our future from the second they start counting towards a GPA, another number that could make or break students. They determine what colleges we get into, what clubs we can join, what we can do after college, and how others view us.

You may have worked incredibly hard throughout high school, stayed after for tutoring, always took teacher's criticism, were also extremely involved, but still received "average" grades. Your senior year then rolls around and you start applying to colleges you can truly see yourself at, falling in love with, being successful at, and that offer everything you are looking for. The college admissions staff might look at your application, see that you did not do well on you SAT's, (which you prepared for for hours and retook a million times) and decide that you are not suitable for their college just because of those three. simple. numbers.

Imagine studying for a million hours on a test that you feel completely confident about, writing an essay that you put your heart into, or doing a project that you put sweat and tears into (trust me, the tears will happen) and then receiving a grade that you do not feel like you deserve. Teachers and professors never saw all that hard work, they only look at the final project. To me, this is not a fair way of determining what a student is capable of.

Now, there will always be those students who truly do not care about their academics and do possess some of those characteristics that go along with the grades they received, but what about the rest of us? Are we supposed to just sit back and accept the fact that no matter how hard we work, it means nothing because we did not get a certain score on something? I'm not sure what the answers are to these questions, but I do know that we should no longer let these numbers and letters define who we are as people. I have average grades, but does that mean I care less about my academics than somebody who gets higher scores? No, it simply means I need to try harder next time, which I always do.

Finally, stop looking at those who get lower grades as though they are incapable of being successful and following their dreams. Most likely, they are the ones who are going to pass us all one day because of their hard work and dedication. Nothing is impossible, no matter what our education system says.