As the week of finals comes and goes, we find ourselves feeling one of two ways: accomplished or like a failure. Maybe both? Accomplished that we've gotten through the finals alive, a failure that we totally bombed that history exam.
Some of us may have studied every day for a week to pass our exams -- "I only need to get a 108% to get an A!" Others, much like myself, were more... reluctant to hit the books -- "If I don't know it by now, I'll never know it. Let's do this." Either way, we're coming out of it with either a passing grade or a failing one.
A passing grade is definitely reason to celebrate. Pull out the champagne and throw a party! Be happy because another semester is coming around. Once winter break ends, the war paint returns. The good news is that now that you've (hopefully) passed all your courses, you don't need to cry about them anymore. You can move on to more classes that'll make you cry every time you hear the words "end of the year exam."
However, some were not as lucky. Some of you lost the battle against the treacherous monster they call the "final exam." And that's okay. A failing grade does not make you a failure. Like you're a hero fighting a monster, you go hurt, but you survived the fight. You can either fight that same monster again, or move onto another monster to defeat. Maybe you didn't study long or well enough, or maybe the exam just wasn't what you were expecting. No matter the outcome, it's passed. There's nothing to have been done now and that's okay.
Grades do not define us. Failing a class does not define us. A bad grade does not make us lazy or stupid. A bad grade does not define our worth. The next time finals come around, you may study harder and longer. Maybe you won't study at all. Perhaps you'll study and you'll fail; maybe you'll wing it and you'll pass with flying colors. However you choose to prepare for next semester's exams is up to you (more than likely, if you study long and hard, you'll pass your exam, but that's just my advice). Just remember that despite what grade may present itself on your transcript, it does not define you. Perhaps you should get a new training routine for the monsters you'll be fighting next semester. What really matters though is that you survived the fight.
