Its taboo at UNC to talk about grades & there’s this idea that every student needs to be doing the most while getting perfect grades. That’s not healthy. So Idk who needs to here this but Ive failed 2 classes & have fluctuated below & above a 3.0 & I’m still thriving

A thread :) https://twitter.com/lostblackboy/status/1289631528389996544

Take all I say with a grain of salt but this thread is my unsolicited advice I wanna pass on as I enter my senior year.

(This thread is also prob gonna be funny to anyone who knows me from high school bc I was that person whod do the most for grades.)

Also wanna add that Im not trying to go to grad school & journalism isnt a profession that values GPA & recognize thats not the case for everyone. I also do have scholarships w/GPA requirements & I do the bare minimum to meet those requirements

Anyway yes, I’ve failed 2 classes.

And I still have my scholarships. My mom doesnt hate me. Ive thrived in the classes I care about & where professors r passionate about what they teach. Ive traveled the world on 2 study abroad programs (fully paid). I have great friends. I’m good at what I do. And I’m still here.

After I came to the realization that standardized tests & grading structures limit us & unnecessarily stress us & after that, my life held new meaning.

I adopted this mindset my sophomore yr but fully embraced it my junior yr & Ive since had a better college experience.

The only thing I willingly stay up for is for things I love. Papers, studying for tests, readings and busy work? Not worth it. I value my time & that gened class ain’t it.

NOT to say I don’t do the work. I respect profs & their time. I just dont do & stress more than I need to.

My final thing I wanna add is a piece of advice I got my 1st yr that changed how I saw the purpose of college: ure in a space where ure surrounded by ppl form all over doing all kinds of stuff. Don’t limit ureself to the class. Talk to ppl. Do things. Go to events.

Take advantage of the PEOPLE and spaces and communities bc that’s where you’ll learn & grow the most. I remember conversations and interactions more than a reading I did for a class or a test.

And that advice changed my life & its bc of it that I’ve learned & grown productively

Not saying learning doesn’t happen in the class. It also happens OUTSIDE of it too & the idea that knowledge can only be obtained in class where it’s dictated by grades just serves to make education more inaccessible & stuffs knowledge in a box.

But that’s another convo lol.

I won’t lie, getting “bad” grades still kind of hurts. But I just give myself a few min to lecture myself & then I move on to the next thing. B4, I’d hate myself for so long.

So I guess my final advice is to not hold on to that perceived failure. Don’t let a grade system & test define you.

I know that’s easy to say & hard to do. The education system has spent years tying our worth to numbers. I’m still unraveling it but my life has been better since.

- signed, someone who has failed the SAME class twice and is now back to a 2.9 GPA.

also signed by a daughter of an Ethiopian mother who the thought of telling her I failed a class wouldve kept me up all night pre college & while she ~technically~ doesnt know the FULL truth, Im not as terrified. Just mildly concerned.

Shell know the truth when I graduate LMAO.