The lesson that grades can't teach

I am currently teaching a course for the third time, and every year I see the same things.
Students focus too much on grades and too little on the things that actually matters.

Grades are important for high school students.
They have no meaning for an employer or anyone outside of school.

Because your grades don’t reveal anything important about you.

Let me show you what I mean.

No one will ever look at your grades

When you are in school you might think that the grades are the most important thing.
We are told to attend class and study for the tests… to get good grades so that things will work out in life.

I have good grades. Nothing extreme. But no one has ever looked at them.

Because outside of school, grades have no value.
All your valuable qualities cannot be seen in a letter or a number
(or whatever system was used when you were in school).

The ability to express your opinions.
The ability to give and receive feedback.
The ability to plan and organize your work.
The ability to ask well-formulated questions.
The ability to communicate and collaborate with others.

None of this is ever specified in a curriculum and never included in a grade.

Teachers and politicians care about grades.

You shouldn’t.

Try things until you find what excites you.

What excites you?
You never learn anything if you are bored.
Being fueled by curiosity, you can learn anything.

Sadly, schools are not that efficient in creating an environment where curiosity thrives.

The good news though is that you have access to lectures, videos, presentations, courses, games and programs online. Most of it is free and available to you here and now.

You can let your curiosity guide you and dive deep into topics and questions to really understand its foundation.

The journey of exploration will fill you with energy and that is the point.
Humans love to learn and you have the ability to learn anything.

But if you are in school and study for the grades, then you are missing the point. The grade isn’t what fills you with energy. The ability to expand your knowledge and understanding is.

And that process takes time and effort.
You have to invest into that understanding.
And if you don’t maintain it, it will crumble.

The danger of removing the process.

Now, I know you are smart.
I know that you try to find the easy way to get things done.
Today, that might involve some form of AI.

When I was in school, there where no Large Language Models who could help me write an English essay. I had to write it on my own.

Let us take this essay as an example.

I am fairly sure both you and I can agree that there is no value in that essay today. The value isn’t in the finished product. It never were.

The value lies in the process of writing it. That messy process is what taught me the language and the topic I am writing about.

If I could have used AI and removed the process, I would also have removed the value.

Like in any other aspect of Society, I would have prioritised short-term gain (getting a grade) over long term investments (actually learning something).

Focus on the journey, not the destination

I know how it sounds.
I hear and notice the cliche.
You have heard it a thousand times already.

That doesn’t make it less true.
Alan Watts described this sensation, using the analogy with music.

Instinctively you know all this. But yet, it is easy to fall in the trap of focusing too much on when things are done, finished or over. When you have arrived.

I know that when someone tells you to enjoy the journey, you eyes probably roll, and you might feel like punching them in the face. You are not alone in feeling that.

In a recent episode of the podcast A bit of Optimism, Simon Sinek and Arthur Brooks discussed this theme. At the end of the episode they offer another expression.
One that I find much more enjoyable and I hope you do too.

So instead of focusing on the journey, “be alive here and now”.

That is how I will start thinking about it, and hope you will too.

Want to continue the conversation,
don’t hesitate sending me a DM on LinkedIn

Until next time!
Daniel - The Talking Bridge

Ps. Music Motivation: