a day late and a buck short

hmmm, i was just thinking about my semester grades and i thought- why not blog about it? as much as i hate school, there are some things that i really like. for example, i like 1 teacher. 1, that's right. if you know me then you know how much i respect mr. Kukla (trig/pre-calc teacher) ok well i got my grades back and, well it started off good- with a B, but that was followed with a C and then a C and then a... C! yeah so i'm usually an A/B student, but now i guess i'm a B/C student. it's not that i couldn't get better grades, i just didn't try to. all through high school i cut grades as close as i could. last year i got a 91% in chemistry because i had a 102% before the final- so all i had to do was answer like 8 questions right. and i did just that. (well i answered like 15 of the 45, just to be safe). Sophomore year i had like a 107% in the third quarter- so i stopped doing all the work for the last two weeks. i cut that one really close because i had to end up getting an A on the final to keep my A in the class. and i did! ok so you get the idea of how i look at school, but for some reason teachers and parents don't like this logic. (actually my chemistry teacher was pretty cool about it). but i always get the 'why can't you just reach your full potential' speech. i just don't see the difference between a 98% and a 90%-- they're both A's.
ok so this year, i had a B in math. (key word= had) before the final i had an 86%. all needed to keep by B was a 64% on the final. i figured- why even study?--i've been getting A's and B's on most of the tests. so i got my report card and it said "C". ya, i was pissed too. i said there has to be some mistake. today, i went in to talk to him and he said that i got a 62% on the final. DAMN! then i asked what grade did i end up with? the answer was a 79.1%. yeah, the sucks even more. i always cut things close, but i've never slipped like that.
so, got the lecture form my dad and i told him that a C made no real difference than a B because i'm already accepted into the college i want to go to. he didn't follow my train of though because apparently, in 10 years from now- people are going to care about my high school grade in math. also, i was terrified to find out that if i don't practice good study habits now... i will never have the skills to get through the most important thing in life-- college!!! oh no! i'm screwed!
ok so i asked Mr Kukla if he entered all my extra credit into the computer, and he said yes. he also said that he got a bunch of e-mail that said how much of a bad teacher he was because people deserved better grades and stuff. that's when it hit me- i was being one of those pathetic whining bastards!! that's probably the most important thing i've learned form this grade. i know that it's not his fault, and i don't hold it against him. i tried to walk a thin line, and i tripped. i know it's my fault, (i'm not too worried about it) but i accept that blame. i'm a strong believer in taking responsibility for your actions and i also accept the results of playing the odds. life is really just a big game of russian roulette... sorta. work with the cards in your hand, and accept whatever happends- but don't blame it on the dealer! so i've learned... a grade isn't worth begging over, but it might not be worth working for either. i'm sure i'll be ok in 10 years from now, but i'd rather not plan out my life that far ahead.
-steve