As exam season is nearing an end, it is almost inevitable that you will receive some marks that are way better and way worse than you were anticipating them to be. And for those averages that have been slowly suffering through the semester, it may feel overwhelming to consistently receive low marks. These are a few pointers on what to do if you don’t get the grades you expected.
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Breathe
Often when you are in shock, whether it be a good situation or a bad one, your body tenses up and you simply forget to stop breathing. Sometimes it almost feels as though the two-digit number that pops up when you refresh the “Gradebook” page on the “OWL” site, carries an astronomical weight on you. And in that shock and the weight it carries, breathing doesn’t come as a natural bodily function, but a forced activity. Despite the mark you receive, and despite the ramifications of that mark, you have to remember to breathe and on a larger scope, take care of yourself.
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You Are Not Your Marks
Sometimes it feels as though our assignments and summatives, whether it be an essay, a lab report or a multiple choice exam, are a further reflection of us.
Even I had—and still have to—constantly fight the notion that my marks do not represent me. On the basis that my writing demonstrated my thinking and my tests demonstrated my intelligence, I would constantly internalize my successes and failures.
It’s hard to separate your self-worth from your marks because for some reason, the common assumption is that the two are intertwined. Quite frankly, you are not your marks. Your marks are a reflection of your knowledge on a specific topic, not your intelligence overall.
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Comparisons Will Do You No Good
Another misconception is that the marks you receive are somehow bound to everyone else’s. You can only feel satisfied with your average if by comparison, the averages of your peers are significantly lower. Similarly, regardless of how well you personally do, you minimize that success if everyone else’s marks supersede yours. In a class environment, it’s easy to fall into a never-ending whirlwind of competition. Other people’s marks shouldn’t affect your ability to learn and your opportunity to thrive. Essentially, there is no tradeoff between your success and someone else’s failure, success can co-exist.
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Put Your Mark Into Perspective
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Despite the mark you receive, it is not the nail in your coffin, it is a percentage from one of five courses in one of four years. Sometimes it’s hard to process, especially when considering graduate studies or switching into another more competitive program, but a bad mark is not the end of your academic life. Your life is built on a plethora of experiences and choices and it would be wrong to assume that a bad  mark could trivialize that.
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It’s Easy to Blame, But Better to Learn
When you are handed back an essay or exam and you don’t get the mark you expected, it’s really easy to blame it on your teaching assistant or professor. It’s almost gratifying to shift the burden of your frustration and rage onto someone else. And while you should fight or repeal your marks if you believe that you deserve them, it would be wrong to do so without fully understanding where you may have gone wrong. It’s hard to put all your time and effort towards an assignment, only to have it destroyed by the person marking it. Sometimes it feels like a literal slap in the face. We often forget that our work is supposed to be scrutinized and our tests are supposed to challenge us. You didn’t come to university so that your professors could tell you how smart you are, you came here to learn. It is easy to fall into the trap of the “blame game” but try to evaluate your own mistakes, it’s the only way you can move forward.
Exam season is hard, make sure that you aren’t too hard on yourself!