You Are More Important Than Your Grades

In my first year as I was sitting down to write one of my finals in the Student Rec Centre, there was another class sitting down to write their exam in the next gym over. Just before they were allowed to start writing, one of the instructors stood up at the front of the gym and said, “Please remember that this exam has nothing to do with your worth as a human being.”

I know I forget that a lot of the time, and I think a lot of other students do as well. For me, getting good grades is a large part of my identity, and when I get straight As I feel like a better, more successful human being. That isn’t true, of course, but more often than not I find myself getting sucked in to an insular academic bubble and forgetting to prioritize the person I am outside of this bubble. Even though I know I am more than my grades on the SSC, it can be hard for me to behave in a way that’s actually consistent with this knowledge. Tumblr user jackfalaheee said it well: “Academic success is not the most important thing in my life, I tell myself as I’m having a breakdown because of academic success, the most important thing in my life.”

I tend to resist any message that says to make academic success anything less than my top priority. When my Type A side comes out and I start making organized lists of goals for myself, I always put school at the top. I always put school before my emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being, and before my relationships with my friends and family. I cringe as I write that, but it’s true.

So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, try to remember this as you’re going through this exam season: you are more important than your grades. School is not important enough to sacrifice your mental health and well-being for; put yourself first. Your grades are not a reflection of your worth as a human being. You have a life outside of school and you deserve to be well and feel happy even if you do not live up to an arbitrary academic standard.

School is not going to last forever. Your time as a university student is eventually going to end and you won’t have grades to measure yourself by anymore. Try and care for yourself now in a way you’ll still be able to do later in life. 

You are going to be OK.

• exam period
• mental health
• UBC