During my time at university, I found a sense of meaning and purpose in achieving consistent success in every class I took. Receiving merit-based scholarships made school assignments feel like work, and knowing I would be rewarded financially for doing well drove me to excel.
Excel at what, though?
Getting A’s.
Is getting an A the same thing as learning? Sometimes. You can certainly do both, but they are not necessarily dependent on each other. A’s are performative, external. Learning is internal. I can write a paper that checks all of the boxes: word count, citations, proper formatting, and clear structure. This paper may get an A+, but it did not teach me anything unless I paid attention to the learning opportunities that were present.
So should I feel guilty about doing assignments for the A and not for the learning? That depends on your values. What do you value about school? Do you value learning opportunities? Do you value the opportunity to demonstrate excellent performance? Again, you can have both. But knowing where you stand with what you value provides power and clarity as you move along your academic path.
Spend time thinking about what you value and how you can leverage this self-knowledge to achieve your goals.
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