Aimeé
Good news, kids. A bad grade will most likely not ruin your life, despite what all your teachers say. If you have a fierce desire to learn in your field, you’ll find a way, even if you failed calculus in high school.
Okay, that’s not guaranteed, but what is! However, these anecdotes about “bad grades” are enough to give anyone with a terrible report card hope. Writer Rae Paoletta asked their followers, “What’s a class you got a bad grade in and thought was going to ruin your life but didn’t?”
what’s a class you got a bad grade in and thought was going to ruin your life but didn’t?
— rae paoletta (@PAYOLETTER) February 20, 2020
They shared an example from their life, getting Cs in statistics, and the trauma of it all:
sometimes i still have these absurd nightmares that it’s the day of my stats final at @nyuniversity and i didn’t go to class for the entire semester lmao — does anyone else have this??
— rae paoletta (@PAYOLETTER) February 20, 2020
And it can be traumatic. Failing at something, especially when you care about it, can make you an emotional wreck. The important thing to remember is that there is usually a chance to try again…or a chance to let it go and pivot to something even better. There’s so much to learn out there, and the only person who decides you’ve really failed is you. Scroll through below for the stories of people who got bad grades and survived—or triumphed!
1.
Some film studies class in undergrad, got a D. Ended up at USC film school. Co-wrote Creed
— Cov Franchise (@BearCov) February 20, 2020
2.
Writing the Essay. Now I’m the author of a book of essays.
— Mara “Get Rid of the Nazis” Wilson (@MaraWilson) February 21, 2020
3.
Science. I work at NASA/JPL now, so…
— Kevin M. Gill (@kevinmgill) February 20, 2020
4.
Not sure this counts but I failed my first driving exam and I thought I would never recover
— Kacper Nedza (@kacpernedza) February 20, 2020
5.
That makes sense actually. I find people who struggled with math are able to teach others where people who got it have a hard time teaching or explaining it.
— Rachel HeyGirlField (@Heygirlfield) February 20, 2020
6.
Dude, I flunked Calculus II. Straight up got an F! But I retook it and worked really hard and got a C. Then realized I’d be miserable as a computer scientist and changed my major to English. Oh well.
— karen poremski (@profkarenpski) February 21, 2020
7.
Organic chemistry. Required for pre-med. Failed 1st time, C- 2nd time, B+ 3rd. Actually brought me to tears a few times.
— James Nova – A Respite from the Apex of Despair (@jxnova) February 20, 2020
8.
Differential Equations. Thought college was over. But kept going and I eventually retook course for a better grade. Everything looks dark at first!
— Gene Gordon (@porchdragon) February 20, 2020
9.
I cried bitterly over some grades in the 5th grade because I thought they would affect my ability to get into Harvard.
(narrator: she did not get into Harvard anyway)
— Rheum Cat (@rheum_cat) February 20, 2020
10.
Sometimes those “easy As” are the ones that get you! I took oceanography 101 and got a C. I tried so hard but couldn’t remember the terminology! 😭😂
— Jess (@JessOnCanvas) February 20, 2020
