Only 10%

This started out as a Facebook status. Then it turned into a Facebook note. Now it has turned into a full fledged blogpost. It has been a long while since I put anything on here, but I want to dissect a philosophy I've encountered several times in the last few weeks.

"It is only 10% of the grade; it isn't that big of a deal. I am not sure I'm even going to bother."

Now, I know that I'm an overachiever and that I annoy the heck out of a lot of people for being so particular about grades, but I feel anyone toting this philosophy should take into consideration several things.

To begin with "Only 10%" is actually a full letter grade (believe it or not). This means that, even if you get 100% on everything else in the class, a 0% on this item that is "only 10%" would result in you getting a 90% for the class. True, this would still be an A, but it would be an extremely low A and if you get docked for having an A- instead of an A, your GPA just suffered unnecessarily.

Now, let's consider the assumption that you got 100% on everything else. If that were actually true, that would typically mean you are generally a good student. If that is true, skipping an assignment worth a tenth of your grade and accepting an A- instead of the A or A+ you could have earned makes any sense.

Let's also acknowledge the fact that very rarely do people, even very talented and intelligent people, get 100% on every assignment they complete. If you got anything less than 100% on even one other assignment, ignoring an assignment worth 10% of your final grade means you are allowing yourself to get a B instead of any kind of A. So even a student that typically performs at the A or A+ level with 95's and the like would end up getting a final grade a full letter below their regular performance. This again doesn't make any sense to me.

So, let's consider the likelihood that most people with this philosophy aren't typically A students. Instead, let's consider the possibility that they are B students who perform in the 85% range most of the time. You're a hard worker and you know your stuff, but you aren't obsessed with perfection. Most likely, you care about what you are doing, but you just don't have the time or will power to put in the effort necessary to get an A on things. Overall though, you're a good student and you want to perform well. Except, if you are willing to shrug off a 10% assignment, all of the hard work you do put into getting those B's is wasted because you're almost definitely going to get a C. Maaaaaaybe you'll manage a low B if you end up doing really well on the final. Someone who is dedicated enough to consistently get a B on their work doesn't seem like the type of person that would simply shrug off an entire 10% assignment.

Well then, it looks like we are now looking at the "C's get degrees" students. We are looking at those who just want to get through the classes and don't give a flip about how well they do as long as it is "good enough." OK, I can see how you would be willing to disregard an assignment if your goal is to just pass. Here's the problem though. If you totally disregard the assignment, you have to actually put more work into the things you do do in order to get that C you're aiming for. If you take a 0 on a 10% assignment, instead of getting C's on everything else, you actually need to be getting B's or A's. Your personality, however, would suggest that you aren't really interested in putting in the work necessary to get those B's and A's on everything else. So why would you just shrug off an entire assignment?

Who is saying this kind of a thing? Please don't tell me there are people who honestly don't care at all about what grades they end up with. Are there really people who don't care about passing? If they do care, how are they really justifying the blatant disregard for a whole tenth of their final grade. Most exams are "only" 10-20% of the course grade. A lot of the time, all of the homework assignments combined are between 10-20% of the final grade. Would these people really justify not doing ANY homework or completely skipping an entire exam?

Oh, wait, I know they do.

If you are the kind of person who can look at a school assignment and say "It is only 10% of my grade. Why bother?" then I don't want to say that you're stupid, but I don't want to suggest that you reevaluate your worldview. You are wasting your time and money, and you are wasting the efforts of your professor when you adopt that kind of a mentality. You are doing yourself no favors, and beyond the money you are giving the school and textbook publishers (assuming you bought the book), you aren't benefiting anyone at all.

This kind of "I'll do the bare minimum and slide through to the end" mentality is dangerous. If you, person who thinks this way, don't stop thinking this way, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of disappointment. We should always aim for 100%, not because we can always reach 100% or because we are arrogant and prideful, but because 100% is best. It is best for us. It is best for our families, and it is best our community.

If you start telling yourself that 10% of an assignment isn't worthy worrying about, eventually it won't be hard to tell yourself that 10% of your class isn't worth your concern. If you can justify blowing off 10% of your class, after a while what is going to stop you from abandoning 10% of your classes? Once you graduate, why would you bother caring about 10% of your duties at work? Why would you care about 10% of your spouse's needs or the needs of your children? Maybe I'm stretching things a little thin here, but the little decisions we make in life find ways to become our overarching life philosophies.

College should be viewed as the training grounds for later life. The way we, as students, treat our vocation will change the way we live the rest of our lives. The way you view grades doesn't just impact your GPA. It impacts the kind of person you will become because it impacts the way you view all of your responsibilities in life.

When an employer looks at you, are they going to see someone dedicated to their path in life or are they going to see someone who shove aside anything that isn't absolutely mandatory. When you are looking for a husband or wife, are they going to see someone they can depend upon when the going gets rough, or are they going to see someone who will take every opportunity to push the workload onto them. When your kids look up to you, will they see a role model that encourages them to be the best they can be in life, or will they see an excuse to ignore their own responsibilities?

It doesn't matter if you are a student taking classes, an employee working a job, a parent raising a child, or anyone else. I encourage you to value every percentage point and to give every assignment that comes your way all that you have to give. You don't do it to be perfect. You don't do it to be the best there is.

You do it because it makes sense and because it the right thing to do.

After you've tried, after you've taken every assignment seriously and given it your all, the final result is something that you can take pride in. Even if you don't perform as well as you might have liked, you tried and you worked for every point you earned. You don't have to ace everything to be a good student, you don't have to do everything right the first time to be a good employee, and you don't have to make all the right decisions to be a good parent or spouse.

You do have to try.

It isn't just 10%. It is an opportunity to be a better person.