By Ryan Maloney, assistant women's volleyball coach
To all our athletes: I hope you do well on your final exams next week. That said, assuming you're trying your best, I don't particularly care what grades you get.
Because by and large, your grades are an illusion. Yes, you need a certain level of competence in the classroom to get by, and maybe get into a particular graduate program in the future.
But if I'm looking at an application and I see you had a 1.5 GPA in college it's a red flag. You may lack discipline. If I see you had a 4.0, it's also a red flag. You may lack passion. You may only be capable of following orders, exactly the opposite of what most employers want. The 4.0 can be just as concerning as the 1.5.
I assigned an essay to a class of students last week worth 20 points. One girl sent it to the wrong e-mail address and received half credit because the assignment was late. She had a mild panic attack when she found out. Despite getting an A minus on all three tests in the class, she thought losing 10 points on an assignment might jeopardize her chances of getting into graduate school.
This girl has firmly bought into the illusion of her grades. She's absolutely wonderful, one of the most insightful and passionate students in the class. She'll get into grad school for that reason alone. Then she'll get a job for that reason alone. I'd want to hire her right now. But she's a psychological wreck because she thinks her GPA is the end-all-be-all.
It's not. Her passion is what matters. I just wish she could see that. As Dr. Ted Steinberg said in an interview a couple months ago, jobs are usually gotten entirely by accident.
Stop Stealing Dreams is a free e-book on this topic. Here's my favorite passage:
" 83. Some tips for the frustrated student:
1) Grades are an illusion
2) Your passion and insight are reality
3) Your work is worth more than mere congruence to an answer key
4) Persistence in the face of a skeptical authority figure is a powerful ability
5) Fitting in is a short term strategy, standing out pays off in the long run
6) If you care enough about the work to be criticized, you've learned enough for today"While you're taking your final exams next week, do your best. But put them in perspective, too.