Student Sample Essay--University of Kansas Student

    It was only four months ago that I was a normal high school student.  Actually, I was considered slightly above average because I maintained a 4.0 grade point average.  I was proud of my straight-A record, and it made me feel good about myself.  In some ways I actually thought I was a smart kid.  Well, it did not take long to discover I was not as smart as I thought I was.  Give college a couple of weeks and see how smart you feel.

     In high school I could float around without a care in the world.  I never worried about grades.  I slid by doing as little as possible and still received A's on almost everything I turned in.  I never studied.  I never even had homework.  High school was a time to socialize, not a time to worry about a quiz you have sixth hour.

     Boy was college a slap in the face!  They give us homework here.  You have to study.  Coming from my high school experience of never having to put in much effort to get the grade, college seems almost impossible.  Even when I do study and do all the extra problems the professor assigns, I still receive a grade that I would never dream of getting in high school.  An A seems unreachable.

     Don't you feel good about yourself when you get back an exam with a big fat red A on the top?  Earning good grades makes a person feel good about themselves.  I can remember getting back a test that I set the curve on.  I had gotten the highest grade on that test in that class.  I felt on top of the world.  At the time I felt smarter than my fellow classmates.  That situation is definitely a confidence booster.  But what happens when the opposite becomes the truth?  How do you feel when you receive a low grade.  Embarrassed?  Ashamed?  Getting low grades on tests, projects, and essays can ruin a perfectly wonderful day.  The first test I received back in college was the lowest grade I had ever gotten in my life!  I was so humiliated and ashamed that I had to hang my head low so no one could look me in my eyes and see the disappointment.  I did not want my teacher to know that was I who had done so horrible on his test.  I felt like the most stupid person in my class.

     I have to realize that even the smartest people get low grades.  In high school some of the most brilliant people I know got poor grades. On the other side, I knew a few people who were not that bright who were always at the top of the class.  Why is that, I wonder.  Grades can hardly be determined entirely by how smart or stupid a person really is.  Grades are almost rating us more on our laziness rather than our intelligence.

     So now I am in college.  I no longer just float around freely without a care in the world.  I am always worrying about my classes.  I worry if I have studied enough, or even if I am smart enough to be in a particular class.  College has been a real eye-opener.  I can see that I do need to do homework and study, so then I can earn a good grade and feel good about myself again.  How do such insignificant letters like A, B, C, D, and F have such importance in my life?  I hope one day I can escape being graded and just be myself, and that would be good enough.