Mom says it's because I'm an adult.

There's this... thing. This thing where I really, really care deeply about my grades. This thing where I want to get straight A's. Because, well, because I should, dammit. I should be able to get straight As. I take four classes per semester. Every semester so for, I've gotten three As, and one A-. This is the most infuriating experience ever. Fuz tells me that an A- is an A, and I should just be happy. This is a dirty, dirty lie.
Now, this is the first time I have ever cared about my grades in my whole life. I did not care kindergarten through college. I did not care about my grades so much that I went to a college which had no grades at all, which believed that grades were part of an oppressive patriarchal system. Now that I am in grad school, an A- is like a poke in the lungs with a stick. This is very confusing. Why do I care? What business do I, a good Hampshire College student, have with caring about grades? It's awful.
So I was antsy for days waiting for my grade report to come in for last semester. Finally, the day I got to Mom's for Christmas, all of my professors put in my grades. This is the conversation I had after checking.

Me: Three As and an A-. Again! I hate this! It just nags at me! A-!
Bob: You've got a problem, Kathleen
Long pause.
Bob: And it's not the A-.

He may be right.

posted by K @ 12/24/2005 08:08:00 AM