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WhyICareAboutGrades 10 - 09 Feb 2010 - Main.RonMazor
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| | After our discussion on Thursday I thought it would be helpful to explain why I care so much about my grades. Grades have caused me a tremendous amount of “fear and anxiety” over the past 14 weeks and I would love to stop caring. I’m hoping that Eben and the rest of the class can lift this mighty weight from my shoulders, but I’m not optimistic that it can be done.
I care about grades because other people care about grades. | | | For Guys: | |
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-- CourtneySmith - 09 Feb 2010 | |
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> | I confess the survey may have been geared towards avoiding a specific result, rather than providing meaningful choice or directly addressing Josh's assertion. I was also uneasy about drawing such rigid gender lines. I've revised the survey accordingly.
Gender-Neutral Survey:
-- RonMazor - 08 Feb 2010 |
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WhyICareAboutGrades 9 - 09 Feb 2010 - Main.CourtneySmith
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| | After our discussion on Thursday I thought it would be helpful to explain why I care so much about my grades. Grades have caused me a tremendous amount of “fear and anxiety” over the past 14 weeks and I would love to stop caring. I’m hoping that Eben and the rest of the class can lift this mighty weight from my shoulders, but I’m not optimistic that it can be done.
I care about grades because other people care about grades. | | | Speaking of access to choices, Ron, I think the options are a little limited on the Girls' Survey! Eyes and a pleasant smile are nice to begin with, but intelligence may be important too. Also, the quality that gets noticed first may be different from the quality that infatuates. Or maybe I really need to get some sleep!
-- KrishnaSutaria - 09 Feb 2010 | |
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I appreciate the honesty in all of this, Josh, and it makes it a little easier for me to understand where you're coming from. I hope that (especially to the extent it ends up being destructive rather than productive) you can stop caring so much!
This may relate a little more to the anxiety thread, but I'll throw it out here, because it's something that's been frustrating me. A lot of law school obsessions are embarrassingly detached from what's going on in the world. Lots of people "out there" are dealing with serious problems. People are sick, people are dying, people (people smarter than us, as Eben has pointed out) are working shitty, dangerous, low-paying (low-prestige!) jobs just to feed their kids. I am damn lucky if the biggest worry in my life at present is whether I have a 3.0 or a 3.5 from Columbia Law School. Humility isn't the law student's (or the lawyer's) strongest suit, but we could all use a healthy dose every now and then. So maybe keep caring, but in perspective. . .
And Krishna, I totally agree about the survey options for women!
-- CourtneySmith - 09 Feb 2010 |
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WhyICareAboutGrades 8 - 09 Feb 2010 - Main.KrishnaSutaria
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| | After our discussion on Thursday I thought it would be helpful to explain why I care so much about my grades. Grades have caused me a tremendous amount of “fear and anxiety” over the past 14 weeks and I would love to stop caring. I’m hoping that Eben and the rest of the class can lift this mighty weight from my shoulders, but I’m not optimistic that it can be done.
I care about grades because other people care about grades. | | | I care about grades to the extent that I need them to get what I want. The example above of getting into graduate school fits how I saw grades in college, too. I don't think my law school grades are important, and I sincerely hope the rest of you have the wherewithal to think about how much you care (in a value hierarchy) whether the guy next to you got A's vs. whether he's a jerk, and how that thought process (or at least unconscious judgement) is repeated by fellow humans millions of times every day. That judgement matters in real life, too...not just now.
-- DRussellKraft - 08 Feb 2010 | |
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> | I see grades as "access to choices", similar to Derek's "I need them to get what I want." And yes, likability is crucial to life and at the end of the day grades don't matter.
But Josh is right on one very basic point - people do judge you based on your law school grades. These people might not be your children or the person sitting next to you, but those who have the power to let you get where you need to be going. So if getting into Columbia was the goal, then you're lucky. You can relax now. If a prestigious clerkship or big law job are the goals, then you are still stuck in this grades mess. One of the things, I think, this class helps us with is figuring out why we want that big law job or that clerkship or whatever. And once we are aware of what those goals entail, we can make a real choice.
When you're thinking about a career choice, that kind of clear-headed, open-eyed analysis is really helpful. But I'm not sure awareness of the uselessness of grades, or their inability to reflect our human side serves a larger purpose than making me feel ok about my mediocre first semester performance. If I still want the kind of access to choices I came here to get, I still feel, like Josh, the pressure to perform. Any takers?
Speaking of access to choices, Ron, I think the options are a little limited on the Girls' Survey! Eyes and a pleasant smile are nice to begin with, but intelligence may be important too. Also, the quality that gets noticed first may be different from the quality that infatuates. Or maybe I really need to get some sleep!
-- KrishnaSutaria - 09 Feb 2010 |
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WhyICareAboutGrades 7 - 09 Feb 2010 - Main.DRussellKraft
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| | After our discussion on Thursday I thought it would be helpful to explain why I care so much about my grades. Grades have caused me a tremendous amount of “fear and anxiety” over the past 14 weeks and I would love to stop caring. I’m hoping that Eben and the rest of the class can lift this mighty weight from my shoulders, but I’m not optimistic that it can be done.
I care about grades because other people care about grades. | | | "The curse is the worship of idols, which at length changes the worshipper into a stone image himself..."
-- RonMazor - 08 Feb 2010 | |
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> | I care about grades to the extent that I need them to get what I want. The example above of getting into graduate school fits how I saw grades in college, too. I don't think my law school grades are important, and I sincerely hope the rest of you have the wherewithal to think about how much you care (in a value hierarchy) whether the guy next to you got A's vs. whether he's a jerk, and how that thought process (or at least unconscious judgement) is repeated by fellow humans millions of times every day. That judgement matters in real life, too...not just now.
-- DRussellKraft - 08 Feb 2010 |
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WhyICareAboutGrades 6 - 08 Feb 2010 - Main.RonMazor
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| | After our discussion on Thursday I thought it would be helpful to explain why I care so much about my grades. Grades have caused me a tremendous amount of “fear and anxiety” over the past 14 weeks and I would love to stop caring. I’m hoping that Eben and the rest of the class can lift this mighty weight from my shoulders, but I’m not optimistic that it can be done.
I care about grades because other people care about grades. | | | Wow. I just spent a half hour writing a response and my browser closed. Use the save and continue editing function people!
-- RorySkaggs - 08 Feb 2010 | |
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> | On second thought, ignore my post. Read Thoreau's speech.
Sneak peak:
"The curse is the worship of idols, which at length changes the worshipper into a stone image himself..."
-- RonMazor - 08 Feb 2010 |
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