What We Are Worth

Society makes our grades define us. How well we do in school defines us. Others tell us it’s not what defines us. But how are we judged in life? By the jobs we have, what car we drive, how we dress where we live. Everything we do defines us and is how we are judged.

How do we get the career we get, the car we drive, the clothes we wear and the place we live? We get them by going to school to get good grades so we can get that career that will pay for our car, clothes and home. All that goes back to grades. It goes to how well we did in high school. What grades we got our junior year. What extra credit we did. Everything leads back to these four years that we are stuck with kids who chain smoke behind the dumpster, drink until they vomit their guts out, are as mature as a five year old kid, think who they date and what they wear is the most important thing ever, these years do matter more than anything.

All your life, it is drilled into you head you have to get good grades to get into college so you can get the education you need so you can succeed in life. So you are worth something. If you don’t get good grades, you won’t get into college and will end up working at McDonald’s your whole life, have to ride the bus, wear clothes from goodwill and not be able to pay rent on even the smallest apartment. That is what you are worth. It is what is drilled into our brains and what everyone thinks.

Some people tell us, we are not what are grades are. That is not what we are worth, but is that really true? If we can’t get good grades in high school, if we can’t get the best grades possible our junior year, we will not be able to get the education to get the high paying job that will make us worth something in societies eyes. 

They say that what we do defines us. Not just our career, but what we do as people. The good we do and how we treat each other, the lives we touch, but in the end, it sadly goes back to our career and how we got it. How did we get our careers? College education. How did we get to college? The grades we got in high school (most importantly junior year.) it all leads back to that. We get a career based on what we are good at. And if you are not good at school, it is sadly unlikely to find a career that will pay enough so you can make it in the real world and not live in your parents’ house forever.

Sure, there are the people who are lucky, and don’t go to college or aren't good at school and are able to make a career where they do what they are good at and are able to live comfortably, but how likely is that? Not very.

My name is Kristen Marie Kostenick. I have a D in Algebra II, C in U.S History, C in English, and a “Passing” in Writing for Publication. I recently failed a math test and my English midterm. It doesn't matter that I have a good heart. It doesn’t matter that I am a good person. It doesn’t matter that I want to help people. That is what I am worth in society’s eyes.  D’s and C’s. Not smart enough to accomplish much and not good enough to either.