10 - Why being an A- or B-grade student is alright to me.

Here's a collective record of all the grades I've gotten from Primary 1 to Primary 6, and from Secondary 1 to Secondary 7. I've received two or three grades a year, but I'll just include the end-of-year results, i.e. the ones that matter, except, of course, for Secondary 7 which I'm still studying. For that year, I'll post the half-year grades I received last month instead:

P1 - AB
P2 - AA
P3 - AAAAAAAAB
P4 - AAAAAABBBB
P5 - AAAAAAAABB
P6 - AAAAABBBBBB
S1 - **AAAAABBBBBBC
S2 - ***AAAAABBBBE
S3 - **AAAAAAAABB
S4 - AAAAABBBBBC
S5 - *AAAAAABBBC
S6 - AAABBBBC
S7 - AAAABBBB

Not to say I'm unfit, but the Cs I get are usually from Physical Education. I don't excel in most of the common sports such as basketball, tennis and hockey. I'm happy sticking with my pseudosports, bowling, snooker and golf. I say pseudosports because you don't run around in any of them, and you don't sweat as much (although, there are some exhilarating games where you will require some sort of energy drink.)

The E that I received in Secondary 2 was from Music class. At the time, I didn't know how to play any musical instruments. The music teacher was a pedantic one and disapproved of my rendition of Chopsticks, claiming it wasn't a 'valid' solo performance. I got 2 out of 25 possible marks for my performance and that equated to an E.

As you can clearly see, I've always been an A- and B-grade student. For those of you who are unsure of what the asterisk represents, it's a 'star', which is even better than an A. I don't really know how it is in any other school, but in our school, standing out academically is difficult. You would think a bunch of As and Bs is impressive, but not when compared to my classmates who receive grades not unsimilar to say, this one: **AAAAAA, or this one: *****AAA or even this one: *******A.

Seven stars and one A. That is insane. And extremely admirable. The fact that they have the capability to actually obtain close to the maximum standard of education in an official educational program is a fact that blows my mind.

Here's the thing. I know that I'm capable of that too. We all are if we study hard enough, pay attention in class, ask the teacher a million insightful questions, yadda, yadda, yadda... but even though I have a habit of procrastinating and cramming my head with revision material at the very last minute, I am fine with the As and Bs that I get, because I believe in the concept of no regrets. I don't and won't regret being just an A- and B-grade student, because in my heart, an A always stand for Amazing Achievement and B will stand for Brilliant. I don't need a star to make me feel good. I feel okay getting As and Bs because I know I tried my best the way I felt was best. I'm alright with it because I won't regret it.

A lot of my friends often feel like shit whenever they receive a bad mark for a poorly done piece of homework, or when they come out of an examination knowing that they haven't done as well as they could have. If we're being objective, most of the time, the reason they feel like shit is because they actually receive bad grades. There is also, of course, the pressure on one's shoulders that comes from parents that want to raise highly scholastic sons and daughters. And there is the feeling of inadequacy that people experience while living and learning amongst geniuses.

But, my advice is this: If you feel alright with yourself, that's all you need to do well in life. If you know you're lacking in some areas, then you really need to work, but if you truly feel comfortable with what you're rewarded with, that's okay. If you spend your time feeling worried, stupid or insecure, you will truly have more to regret in due time. I have been taught this lesson (and still get taught this lesson) many times, and this message doesn't only apply to school, but work, friendship, love and life as well. I don't regret missing the opportunity to get all those stars in the past few years. My strengths are for me to define for myself. You can define them too.

What are your strengths? What sort of As and Bs have you received that you see as stars?