It was a cold breezy morning going to school, I could feel my hands freezing in my pockets. On top of that my sat scores just came in, and I was feeling nervous. It was my first SAT score. I was very curious to see what my score was. However, I had to wait until third period, my English class. After hours of hours of waiting and staring at the time, it was finally time for English class. Once I received the paper, I could hear all the students around me asking each other, “what did you get” and “did you open it yet?” But, even through all the noise, all I could focus on was opening the paper. My friends and I who sat at the same table as me agreed to open it together. Now, my friends were good students, they always received good grades on their report card, and always did extra credit work. However, I, on the other hand, never cared to do the extra work. Finally, when it was time to see the test score, we all noticed that I had received a higher grade than everyone else at the table. When I looked around, they all looked confused. They began to ask “how” and they kept looking to see if what they saw was correct.  

Although I loved my test score because it was on a higher percentage compared to everyone else, seeing their reactions to my score really made me feel mixed emotions. I was super excited, yet my head was burning. I was angry. They had this image of me in their heads where I am not as “capable as them.” All because I do not have grades like them. I explained to them that, “your grades do not reflect on what test score you will receive” and I live by that. I mean there is lots of evidence to support this. Grades do not reflect intelligence. Your grades are based on how much homework you do and if you are attending your class, and if you are doing classwork as well on your tests. Meanwhile tests are based on how much time you put into studying that topic and how much knowledge you have on it. It is based on your IQ not your report card grades!