Grading Myself From Now On

No class I've ever taken has made me think more than this one has. In high school, I was never one to not speak up when I disagreed with something, except with teachers. When it came to grading and assignments, I nodded my head and went along with what they were saying simply because they had the authority. For this reason, I became so caught up on the grade. Even then, I hated that I cared so much because I knew that I wasn't being true to myself. I'm a huge advocate for just doing what makes you happy, yet there I was, studying my ass off for tests just for a letter grade. Janelle completely changed my perspective on this the day that she gave everyone A's on their papers. Like everyone else, I was so happy that I got an A, but then I also felt disappointed. I wasn't sure if I was earning that A because an authoritative figure wasn't actually giving me the A because I necessarily earned it. But then I thought to myself, who cares? Why should I care if my teacher thinks my work is B or C work? If I tried my best and was proud to turn it in, and it's worth a B in his/her eyes, then so what? Over the past year, I'm learning to let go and just enjoy life. There are so many more important things in life than stressing about letter grades that, thirty years from now, will be meaningless. I'd rather spend my time doing things that, thirty years from now, I'll remember doing.