But… What’s my Grade? by Lauren Janitzki

Welcome to college, some of the most anxiety inducing years of your life. The never-ending assignments and the ever-present deadlines are just a few reasons that college causes stress. A more personal reason that college causes stress is the self-notion that a certain grade determines your worth. As a kid, I was taught that anything less than a B is unacceptable. On the American grading scale, that meant I could not receive anything less than 80% on any assignment. To meet these expectations, I developed an unhealthy study pattern. On more than one occasion I would pull multiple consecutive all-nighters, just to complete a project or to study for a test. I was exhausted and sick all the time. This changed a bit my sophomore year in college when I decided to study abroad in Seville, Spain.

The first difference I noticed when I got to Seville was that assignments are graded on a 1-10 scale and not a 1-100 (like in the US). Quite frankly, this freaked me out a bit. Then I went to a seminar which discussed that when converting the Spanish grades to US grades for our transcripts. During this seminar the presenter said the most profound thing. They said in order to get a passing grade, I only had to get a 5. To meet the expectation of receiving a B, I only had to get a 7. This stunned me because a 7 in America would be a C. It took a while to get used to this, but once I did, I started to develop better sleep patterns, and I started to relax more. I have been able to go out with my friends and enjoy their company instead of barricading myself in a Library to study. I’ve been able to live and experience life more in this semester than in my previous college experience. I do not miss being stressed all the time, and when going back to the States, I am going to try to continue this life style.