The list.
If you’re a senior, you may think I’m talking about who is a National Merit finalist, or maybe even where everyone in your class is attending college.
If you’re a sophomore, you may think I’m talking about who was in your Teresian group or who’s allowed into your next exclusive party.
If you’re a junior, you know what I’m talking about.
Somehow, someway, allegedly someone in our grade laid eyes upon this list last year as we were signing up for AP US History in Mr. Whitney’s classroom. Although it’s only been seen once for a mere .02 seconds, some juniors still remember the order of names.
What is it? Our whole grade listed by GPA from highest to lowest.
To some, it may not have meant anything. But to others, it was a kill list; it showed who someone needed to score one point higher on a Pre-Calculus test in order to rise above them on the rankings. It is motivation and competition at its worst.
From that day forward, I’ve heard girls complain about how they “can’t believe so-and-so has a higher GPA than me, I work 10 times harder.” It’s an all out warfare, and STA is our battleground.
Some juniors, including myself, have crossed the line of friendly competition. When I see people get tests back, they don’t even care how many questions they missed. I immediately catch people trying to steal a glance at the grade written in red ink at the top of my page. Some are even daring enough to flat out ask me what I scored. It’s gotten to the point that some only care about how many more points they received than the person sitting next to them. They don’t study to prepare themselves for a test, they study so they can brag they solved question four correctly on the test when no one else did.
For one thing, our school doesn’t even rank. No one will ever see how you compare to others (unless you’re valedictorian, and in that case, props to you.) Technically, we’re the only ones that see our grades. Therefore, we should be the only ones behind the motivation. Study hard to learn the material and do well on a test. Work towards good grades so you can get into the school of your dreams. Practice for the ACT so you can get scholarships, not so you’re one point higher than someone else in your class.
The other day in my history class, girls were verbally fighting over who got to do what extra credit assignments. Seriously? This is out of control.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with a little bit of competition. Sure, go ahead and try to be named Chemistry Student of the Year at our Academy Awards. Go crazy working for the highest GPA or studying for the PSAT. All I am saying is don’t take blows at your enemy sitting across Mr. Fast’s room during a fish bowl.
Because that same girl took the same exact biology tests as you, did the same world geography assignment as you and also had to beat Ms. Bode in badmitton freshmen year for a grade. She worked just as hard as you-if not harder-to get that GPA where it is now. Show her some respect. And do not use her as a reason to to ace that literature paper. Get your own motivation.
Final say: Some juniors have become overly competitive with academics and need to focus solely on themselves.
