More than a 4.0

I often sit at my desk and just gaze at my pile of homework, hoping that within the nine hours before I have to get to my first class, the reading will be done, the worksheets filled out, and the papers written. At this moment, panic engulfs me, and I wonder, “Will all this work I’m doing to get an education make me happier in the future?” Maybe I’ll think about that when I’m less stressed and don’t have too much work to do, which should be... Thanksgiving. Never mind, I have a Chinese test that following Monday—and things will only get harder from there until Dec. 22. I groan and trudge through another hectic night—but I know I’m not the only student at Columbia who is stressed.

“Stressed” might be an understatement. We’ve all had our mini—or not so mini—emotional meltdowns, when all we want to do is dig a hole and hide in it. A lot of the time, the impetus for wanting to go hide in a hole is our GPA. Our emotions are often directly linked to grades, because they often determine our self-worth. And when we put our self-worth in grades, we put our happiness at risk—we’re allowing something unpredictable to determine our moods.

Four years at Columbia can easily be spent worrying and stressing about grades. We feel like complete idiots when we get sub-par grades, but when we get an A on a paper or nail an exam, we feel like we’re on top of the world. This isn’t high school any more—it’s expected that we don’t always get A’s. Students are judged more harshly because of allegations that colleges are inflating grades. We are just as smart as we were in high school, if not smarter. We are here in college to be challenged, so the normal response for everyone is: “Classes are hard.”

Transcripts don’t define your worth or ability. Anyone can get A’s, but no one can be who you are. Think back to your Columbia application—a lot of other students had the same SAT, ACT, or TOEFL scores as you, or even higher. Scores may have played a part in your acceptance, but they weren’t the sole factor. You differentiated yourself in some special way not involving numbers. You were a person. I’m sure Columbia didn’t accept you so you could spend all your nights at Butler churning out essays and figuring out problem sets. You aren’t here just to ace all your classes. You’re here to grow through experiences beyond those in the classroom. Whether you’re going down to Occupy Wall Street—even if you disagree with the protestors and just want to observe—or heading to Tom’s at 3 a.m. for a milkshake and good conversation with friends, the lessons we learn from these experience are in no way less precious than the epiphanies we have in Butler.

How important are grades? In the scope of life, not very. I feel like we often put off happiness. We work hard during high school, thinking that as long as we get accepted to our dream college, everything will work out. But then we come to college and think, “I’ll just be stressed for four more years, and then I’ll have the dream career and live life to the fullest.” But what about the promotion? The raise? And most of all, the free time? Having a career is even more stressful than being in college or high school. The weight of your responsibilities will only get heavier. If you can’t enjoy life now, what guarantees that you will enjoy life later?

Value your mental sanity. Take some time off for yourself once in a while. Hang out with friends. Go to the park. Eat some good ice cream. Go play the piano in the Wallach lounge.

Enjoy what you do. Enjoy being at Columbia. Enjoy being a college student. Enjoy being you. Enjoy life. Stop and smell the roses. It’s worth it.

The author is a Columbia College first-year.