Getting a bad grade

Last semester, I got a grade on a course which saw my GPA fall. I know that grades aren’t a reflection of our self-worth but sometimes it is hard to disentangle them (Author: Yasmine).

My heart dropped when I looked at my final course grades last semester. I was pretty satisfied with three of them but the last still haunts me a bit I am embarrassed to admit. Only a few percentiles off from the higher grade and it felt like there must be something I could have done better. Truth be told, I had a bit of a difficult semester with adjustments to Covid-19, online teaching and some family matters.

And in reflection, I realise that I took that grade as a measurement of my personal self-worth – something that was so destructive to my confidence. Through this experience, I realised that I needed to develop a healthier relationship with university work. That definitely sounds a bit crazy but I think that I have definitely seen some improvements.

I found the advice on Perfectionism on the Wellbeing Hub website really useful. It had some really great pointers on how to overcome my sense of being ‘unsuccessful’. I realised that I had set ridiculously high standards for myself and failed to account for changes in my life which could be detrimental. I also realised that even if my one bad grade impacted things like my GPA, that didn’t mean I am not good at other courses or things.

The tip that struck me most was ‘to challenge your expectations’. I thought this was a bit of an odd tip, what do you mean challenge my expectations? But I have started to understand that it is about re-evaluating your goals and plans continually and not assuming there is one method to achieving them. It is a hard thing to do and something that I am still learning and that my friend, is all part of the journey.