In recent years, students, parents and teachers have put an extremely high emphasis on the grades that students earn. This has caused problems regarding how people view others.

School was meant to encourage students to put forth the most effort in their schoolwork. However, nowadays, students are being defined by their grades.

Students who work hard in school sometimes never earn straight As. Frustration takes over and they become disappointed with themselves, no matter how hard they tried.

Personally, I think that if a student tries really hard in a subject, they should be proud of whatever grade they earn.

Take me for example. History is not my strongest subject. I am currently taking AP European History, which to me is an extremely difficult class, but to others, may not be as hard. My 3 on the AP exam would be an equivalent to their 5. I would be just as proud of myself for barely passing as another student would be for getting a near-perfect score.

Some other students would see my score of a 3 as a failure, but it is an accomplishment to me. Even if I did well in other subjects, my level of intelligence should not be dictated by the grades that I get in school, let alone just one subject.

People can still be knowledgeable even if their grades don’t match up to people’s expectations. Everyone has different personal goals and others should not judge them based on a general expectation. If a student works hard, they should appreciate their own grades.