A* in creativity

Yes, education is important. We have an internal drive to learn, a desire to do well in life and prosper.

At school I can remember having weekly spelling and writing tests, SATs, GCSEs and A levels. I was always average at school, I never did badly yet I was never the top of the class. This didn’t bother me much when I was younger but as soon as grades mattered I felt as though I was trailing behind my academically intelligent peers. I always tried my best, worked hard at school and still to this day spend a large amount of time on my University assignments and revision. Despite this, I’m still not the highest achiever, and I have accepted that I never will be. There is always someone better than you no matter how hard you try, but this shouldn’t stop you. I continue to power through and put my all into everything I do in the hope that one day I will feel that I have succeeded and made myself proud. I blame the emphasis on getting good grades on my lack of ‘proudness’ of myself. Unless I get an A*, 100% or a first, I feel as though I haven’t done well enough.

I’d like to draw your attention to the picture at the top of the page. It shows qualities not measured by most tests. Of course for some children academic tests produce no fear or anxiety, yet for others the daunting prospect of failure always hangs over them. I believe that more or an emphasis needs to be placed on qualities such as empathy, motivation, leadship, enthusiasm and creativity. By focusing on these traits, more children and teenagers will feel as though they are doing well and are succeeding. Not everyone is academically gifted but may be gifted in terms of other traits such as humour. They may simply walk into a room and brighten up someone’s day with their presence. Every child is unique and special and therefore should be respected in terms of qualities rather than grades. If qualities such as those listed in the picture above were as highly respected as academic grades then I feel as though many children and teenagers would be in a much happier place. Over the years the numbers of children being diagnosed with mental health disorders such as anxiety has drastically increased, due to what I believe is from the pressure placed on them to do well academically at school. It’s not all about numbers and letters but rather about developing the skills needed in life to help you succeed.

Remember to never give up on your dreams. Academia is important but grades do not define you. You are amazing.