This time of the year can be very emotional for many college students. Winter break is right around the corner, and with the end of each semester comes finals. This dreaded time of the year where everything you’ve been doing for the last 14 weeks or so comes down to one assignment/test that makes up for a significant percent of your grade. A lot of students can’t handle this pressure, and that’s because they don’t understand how little any of that matters.

When I was a sophomore in high school, I failed Algebra II. I cried for hours and thought my life was over. No college would accept me and I was doomed to working a minimum wage job the rest of my life. I went to summer school, received a 98 in the course, and my life moved on. I was accepted to all of my colleges and received scholarships for my work during my high school career. But the colleges weren’t just looking at what number was assigned to my person, they were looking at my leadership skills and my involvement in the community.

When you graduate school and start a career, it doesn’t matter if you know the pythagorean theorem (unless you are going into engineering, then good for you, proud of you). You need to possess management skills and be able to hold your own. Having experience in the real world means a hell of a lot more than the grade you received in calculus.

When it comes down to it, you should be proud of your academic accomplishments, it’s not easy to get amazing grades in school, but it isn’t everything. You shouldn’t get down on yourself for not being at the top of the class, or for even failing a class. I should have failed my macroeconomics class this semester, but my professor saw that I was trying and gave me a B+, what does that tell you about our grading system.

Focus on your accomplishments in life, go out and intern, and have fun. Tell people that think your worth is based on your GPA to take a hike.

You don't have to get all A’s, because C’s get degrees.