The first quarter of the school year is over, and final grades have been put in. The school system has used grade point average (GPA) to determine a students academic intelligence for years, so it is no surprise that many students obsess over the grades they get. But has this done more harm than good? Students now seem to focus on their GPA more than the actual content of the class.

An example of this is students taking classes that will give them more points to their GPA rather than taking classes they are genuinely interested in. Michael Estevez is a junior here at Panther Creek. In his interview, he admitted that he cares more about his grades than what he is learning. However, he did bring up an interesting point. “With the grade, you can make it into college and actually be successful in what we want to learn.” 

Olivia Tucker had similar thinking. When asked which classes she thought she retained the most information in, Sports Med was at the top of her list: “For Sports Med, that’s where I put most of my thought… I retain a lot only because that’s something I’m very, very interested in and want to do for a future career.” However, she admitted she didn’t retain much information in math because she’s simply not interested in it. Her process makes a lot of sense when compared to what she thinks is the most important aspect of education. She said, “The most important thing… is getting to a point where you understand the work, especially… for future careers.”

Being career-minded, Tucker thought, was a reason why she prioritizes comprehension over grades. However, this doesn’t mean she doesn’t still care about her GPA. Tucker, along with Estevez, agreed that they would rather have an AP B minus than an Honors A. The answer is simple: AP classes look better on transcripts and having the AP label attached to a class gives a boost to the GPA. 

This goes to show that regardless of how students view knowledge and the information from their classes, everyone is taught to prioritize grades. But what it comes down to is this: 65% of students agree they would retain more information in their classes if grades weren’t a factor in their learning. So, are the grades really, truly worth it in the end? Only time will tell.