Imagine an eighth grader, suited up in June, the center of attention on his big day, as he finishes the last paragraph in this chapter in the book of his life. His jubilant smile lights up his face as the principal proceeds to read off the graduating class’s names. Our hero anticipates his big moment, envisioning the look on his family’s face when the principal will place in his hand a diploma, a symbol of his academic, athletic, social, and personal growth over the past few years. Finally, moments before his formal graduation, he imagines taking the first step in his new journey of four years, beginning in August.
Little does our hero know that he is naive to the world of secondary schooling, oblivious to the fact that the infantile wave of stress he felt in eighth grade will be nothing compared to the tsunami of pressure he will face in high school.
The transition itself will take several months, leaving him desolate and despondent, nostalgic for the light breeze of work in middle school.
Walking through the double doors of high school is like entering a completely different environment in which one’s current limitations are not conducive to his or her excellence. An individual needs to adapt, and adaptation takes time. This is why high schools should not cover first semester freshman grades. The student needs to readjust his or her personal, extracurricular, and academic life to feel comfortable in high school, and this period of “remodeling” occurs during high school’s first academic period: first-semester freshman year. This stage of change in pressure, competition, pedagogy, and surrounding results in poor grades that do not reflect a student’s overall intellectual capacity. Unfortunately, most colleges look at these grades, resulting in a fallacious notion of the student’s abilities. This rocky start in high school could potentially steer colleges away from an individual, leaving the student to dismally watch his dreams fade away. To avoid this hapless scenario, first semester freshman grades should not be taken into account in college admissions, in fact, colleges should not have access to them.
People in opposition to this may claim that “in life, there is no transition period.” While this is true, as many life decisions are made due to abrupt, demanding changes, a freshman is still too young to have to face these situations the same way he or she will face later on in life. The individual still has time to learn and grow, with circumstances arising unexpectedly, requiring immediate change in junior and senior year or high school, as well as college.
There is another downside to colleges acknowledging freshman grades. A freshman would be so stressed about their first-semester grades coming into high school that they would shy away from and completely ignore the actions that faculty urge freshman to do: get involved. A “newbie” would not join clubs, participate in sports, or get involved in their high school, their mind solely focused on grades.
Are we trying to teach our children how to live a hostage to their grades, or are we trying to teach them the skills to become the leaders of tomorrow? Are we trying to raise our kids to be the exact same, dedicating their lives to a single letter grade, or are we trying to urge them to live free and shine in their own unique way? It is time for college admissions teams to refine their process on regarding students’ academics. Let us strive to remember the fundamental purpose of education and not one of its mere “side effects.”
