I was reminded the other day by one of my teachers that one of our late papers needed to be turned in by a certain time with no excuses-which got me thinking.
I truly don’t believe that academics is a ‘no excuses’ area. We are in a global pandemic where many school systems have been subjected to upheaval-and not only that, but other regular stressors ex. lots of classes, work, personal issues.
It also reminded me of the time two years ago that my grandfather died. I missed a peer editing in my English class, and although she said I would be exempt from the grade, and yet, the end of the class appeared and I had a 0/20 on the assignment, that I couldn’t make up.
We are going through so much this year. And your life does matter and it does affect your academics-you cannot box the two up as if they exist in a vacuum. It was the incident in English class that made me realize that grades are not everything when life decides to remind you of itself. Academics do not dictate life. Life does.
We have excuses, we have reasons, of falling short-and given our circumstances, are they really shortcomings, or are they doing your best with what has been given? If we truly did our best and looked for help when we could...was it really a failure?
All of this for a reminder for finals that if your grades are not as good as normal in this pandemic, you are not alone. Studies have shown this trend. And you are not any less than for having trouble reacting and adapting to these stressors. You’re inherent intelligence does not hinge on a grade. Even if you didn’t get an A, know that I’m still proud of you for finishing this semester, and that there will be lighter days ahead. I am proud of you for doing your best with that you got.
Do not be too hard on yourself for surviving.
