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Success in school takes more than just a natural intelligence

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September 11, 2009

Joe Easton

       High schools have mysterious powers. It’s been less than a month since school started, but by some type of magic trick, summer is already a distant memory.

      Either way, the truth of the matter is that school will always be a part of our teenager lives. We have to deal with school lurking around the corner: on weekends, Christmas break and even during the summer. It’s best to come to terms with it sooner or later.

      The situation wouldn’t seem so bleak if school was always easy. Too bad. School demands that we wake up early, that we wear uniforms and that we dedicate the majority of our day in a building that is not our home. More importantly, however, school demands that we put forth effort.

       Working hard in class is a student’s primary responsibility, and should not be taken lightly. At one point, everyone is going to have to try hard to succeed. Some students are naturally bright, but unfortunately, their intelligence can be a curse to them instead of a blessing. Vice versa: students who have trouble in school often have to give more effort to achieve, and this habitual work ethic becomes a gift.

       I applaud those who take the initiative to work hard for what they want. When tests and quizzes come around, I’m betting a less intel­ligent student who pays attention in class will score higher than a genius who sleeps in class.

       If a student has a GPA that he believes is unsatisfactory, he should not give up. Low GPAs are not a result of not being born with exceptional genetic intellect, but a lack of work ethic. IQ tests measure a person’s intelligence, whereas GPAs are a measure of hard work and effort given to academics.

       At first, it may not make sense to think that a student with a lower GPA might be smarter than a student with a higher GPA. I personally know some students with lower GPAs than me, but they have scored much higher than me on standardized tests such as the S.A.T. Some might consider the one with a higher GPA as smarter, but that is not the case.

       We are quick to associate “smarts” with how high or low our GPAs are, and with good reason. If a student does well in school and earns a high GPA, she must be an intellectual. On the other hand, she could have learned to work hard in class and devote effort to study­ing. The possibilities are debatable. However, it’s not debatable that a student with a perfect score on the SAT is highly intellectual. Thus, I am not smarter than my friends with better S.A.T. scores. I just work harder in school, and it shows with my GPA.

       We are tested and graded and ranked on a scale that doesn’t just measure how intelligent we are, but how much or how little effort we give to school. Although high schools can seem magical at times, there’s nothing unexplainable about working hard.

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