I’ve gotten grades on things in several of my classes now, and it’s gotten me thinking about grades in general. Grades are optional here at Wartburg, in the sense that any class can be taken credit/no credit instead of for a grade. Sounds great, right? Why take any class for a grade when you could take it pass/fail?
I guess it depends on what motivates you. Some people get so stressed about grades that the only way they can survive is to take everything credit/no credit. I thought about that, but I know myself well enough that I figured I’ll work harder if a class is being graded. I still think it’s true, but I’m rethinking my options for next semester, for a couple of reasons.
The first reason is a need to find balance. I told myself that the actual grades wouldn’t matter so long as I knew I was doing my best, trusting that my natural instincts to do well would make that happen. That led to a lot of stress before I started getting my first grades back. Now that I know I’m doing well in my graded classes things have gotten a little better, but the temptation to overwork every assignment is still there. The temptation is there even in my credit/no credit classes just because I get into that mindset.
The second reason is even less healthy. Grades allow ranking, and my competitive streak always wants to know how I’m doing relative to my classmates. This is not good at all. It’s not that I only feel good if I’m getting the best grade, or that I don’t want my classmates to do well. But sometimes I start worrying more about how someone else is doing in a class, or did on a particular assignment, than I do about getting my assignments done to the best of my ability. That is a real problem. I want to be able to celebrate when anyone does well, not wonder why I didn’t do as well. I don’t want to find myself wondering all the time how someone else did. I want to do my work in a steady and unthreatened manner, and not feel like I’m being measured against someone else all the time.
It’s not an easy decision to make. When I was younger, sometimes I felt like good grades were the only, or at least the primary, thing that defined me, and it goes against my nature to relinquish that, even if it’s no longer true. And I do worry that I’ll start to slack off if everything is credit/no credit. (I’ll pause here for derisive snorts from the crowd.) There are other factors to consider as well, even if they seem lesser at the moment.
With less than three weeks to go in the semester, I have a good idea of where I stand in every class, so I hope I can finish all my work without worrying about grades. Then I have a month-and-a-half to decide what I’m going to do next semester. I’ll probably hem and haw until the last possible moment, so stay tuned. In the meantime, may your holiday season be Grade A.
