by hayun park

A “B” I can understand. But really? An “A”? This has gone too far. These days, when I just try to have a fun conversation with my friends, it always turns to grades. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t like talking about grades. It’s just that… a low A isn’t a BAD GRADE!

See, just a few days ago, I was chatting with my group of friends. We discussed many things, with varying topics from the taco we had the night before to the new sequels to our favorite movies. Suddenly, one of my friends started talking about a class that all of us had in common. Naturally, we all told our sob stories about how hard our classes were.

However, as we eventually slowed down in our torrent of our words, one of my brainy friends spoke up. “I’m failing,” she said, sounding dejected. Of course, everyone crowded around her, and demanded to know her grade. After all, we knew her grades were always A’s and it’s just more fun when your smart friend gets a lousy grade.

Now, everyone was expecting a “B”. Maybe even a “C”! You know what she said? She had a ninety three in a class. I thought I heard her wrong. I asked her to repeat it. “Ninety three,” she said, and I just hated her for a second. Okay, maybe a minute.

See, the thing about grades is that everyone has different expectations. I see how if you’ve only gotten “A’s” all your life, you feel a just a smidge bad when you get a high “B” or just a “B”. This doesn’t excuse people saying that they failed because of one, uno, un, low “A”!  

I believe that bad grades are low “B’s” and down. There is a reason that “F is for failure!”. I hate to drive some people up the wall, but enough is enough.