In high school, I was so caught up with getting all A's that I don't think I learned anything. Yeah, probably the basics like how to analyze a book and how to find the average of a set of numbers, but I didn't take in the majority of what I was studying because I was trying to hard to get A's- and the secret is I didn't even get all A's.

I tried my best. I think I got two B's a semester for both my freshmen and sophomore year, and maybe one B my whole junior year, but once I got to senior year I got all A's, even in precalculus. I told myself going into my senior year that I had to get all A's so I could get my GPA up, even though there was nothing wrong with the one I had. I put so much pressure on myself my last year of high school that I'm not even sure how three of my classmates graduated with a 4.0.

Then I got to college, and it was hard. I had a math class my very first semester, and I did everything I could to get a good grade. I studied, I did all my homework and quizzes, I wrote a really good paper, and I took both exams, and I still ended up with a C in the class. I was really upset when The Dean's List came out and I wasn't on there- my GPA was a 3.43 and I had never had such a low GPA. But the key here is I told myself I did the best that I could, and I moved on.

Then my second semester, I took an extremely hard Geography class with a teacher who had a really thick Japanese accent. I couldn't even pay attention because the class was boring and it was hard to understand him. I showed up to every class, and I did the papers that were due, but when it came time for the third exam before finals, I decided to nap instead of study (my depression was at an all time high, and I decided my mental health was just as important here). Not studying meant I got a poor grade, and eventually a C in the class.

The same thing happened over the summer with my accounting class- I did my absolute best to understand everything, and I still ended up with yet another C. But during high school I had a very wise teacher tell my class that C's are actually average, and more people should be fine with getting them. And ever since I started college, that has been my mantra.

Especially with my new art classes. I think art is an underrated major, and especially when you know your art style is different than what they're teaching in the basic classes. I told my dad when I was on the phone with him that all I can do is try my best, because it is only a foundation level class, and I'll eventually get to do what I want.

So basically after four years of trying to get all A's, I decided to try to do my best in college and that that's all I really need to do, and all you really need to do, too.