From a young age, most students raised in the United States public schooling system learn to see themselves in their grade. Classrooms are segregated based on performance. Those who show promise are selectively groomed by teachers and classmates, gradually pushing others to the bottom. 

One study looking at some of California’s highest achieving high schoolers found that 70 percent of the students surveyed were “often or always feel stressed by their school work, and 56 percent reported often or always worrying about such things as grades, tests, and college acceptance.”

This culture of honing in on grades at the detriment of one’s mental well-being likely carries over into college. In a more nuanced educational setting, closer to the workforce, salaries and career benefits are a carrot on a stick, baiting students into cheating or overworking their way to a higher GPA.

In this context, students can easily lose focus of what their education should be all about. Here, at Eastern Mennonite University, students are offered a liberal arts education which purposefully places them in classrooms apart from their major.

Despite this, the general sentiment among most students seems to be a resounding grumble, seeing it as meaningless work which might risk impeding their GPA if it is something outside of their comfort zone. 

As students and paying customers, we signed ourselves up to learn and be challenged. The underlying point of our education should be to push ourselves, not in our mental exertion, but rather to branch out into different disciplines and give chance for something new to stick.

Many students might use the argument of focusing on career-pertinent topics to justify their indifference to the required speech or history class. In doing so, however, students may be doing themselves a disservice, choosing not to focus on the very things which employers value. 

Apart from internships, which many employers prioritize in applicants, many are looking for the presence of “soft skills.” Inside Higher Ed notes one survey which interviewed a range of employers and human resources professionals found that employers were primarily looking for listening skills, attention to detail and effective communication. 

College is a great opportunity to hone in one such skills, whether in the classroom, social settings or a part-time job. At a liberal arts school like EMU, students are set up to develop this valued skill set, which may carry just as much, if not more weight, than their academic performance.

Careers have been shown to fluctuate rapidly, requiring those in their respective industries to constantly be learning new information. This extends out of the workplace and into our roles as engaged citizens. Amidst shifting political and social climates, being receptive to new information, in addition to being able to teach oneself, is not only good for the individual but also an act of compassion. 

In his Op-Ed “What Straight-A Students Get Wrong” (a worthwhile read for anybody still enrolled in college), Adam Grant writes, “Academic grades rarely assess qualities like creativity, leadership and teamwork skills, or social, emotional and political intelligence.” Instead, students become masters of short-term consumption and regurgitation or cheating, both problematic skills. 

Since the 1960s, the “A” grade went from being given in colleges 15% of the time to being given 45% of the time. Many in the field of education refer to this as grade inflation, seeing it as problematic because it risks making things like GPAs obsolete. 

As employers adapt to the increasing irrelevance of grades, they will continue to hone in on the exterior factors like work and internship experience, ability to communicate and, likely, just the ability to adapt and learn. 

Clayton Rose, president of Bowdin College, which offers a liberal arts education, wrote for Time Magazine about the importance of the liberal arts, saying, “We don’t tell students what to think. We strive to teach them how to think, to give them the knowledge and skills to develop the courage to think for themselves and shape their own principles, perspectives, beliefs and solutions to problems.”

At this age, an exciting time of growth and discovery, we are privileged enough to have the world at our fingertips. Rather than letting career focus and grades direct your studies and allowing them to be such weighty burdens, take time to explore and discover what makes you tick. 

At such a young age we, as college students, are in no position to brush off all the academic community we are immersed in has to offer. Ask other students about their classes or take one for fun, if you can. Enter classes and assignments with a mindset of curiosity and wonder with all the things you might learn and all the ways you might grow. Your grades will fade: life goes on.