Grade Grubbers...

Right now many students around the globe are logging on to check their grade for the first short term of the summer (called Spring at BYU-H). I am immune to bad grades this time thankfully. Even if I wasn't, I don't think I'd care as much as I used to anyway.

About a year ago I still had my bright and shiny 4.0. Ever since I slipped off of that slope my concern has ebbed away. I still have a respectable 3.89, but my GPA is not a high priority any more. It made me think about motivation.

What is our motivation for good grades? Many people say that it is because we want to get good jobs. I don't think that's enough. When I lost my 4.0 a friend asked me,

"What do you call a doctor who got C's in college? Doctor."

It makes sense. In job interviews they ask about your degrees and experience, not your grade point average.

Other people say they don't want to let their family down. Many people at BYU-H are international students on scholarships and families at home pay a good part of the education. But again, passing with a B- is not going to get you through school faster or cheaper than an A.

That is, unless you need your GPA to get you scholarships. That is one valid motivation. High GPAs get more scholarships. But I have been passed by for scholarships many times due to my ethnicity and because I did not show enough of an financial need. So, really, it's not the best or most sustaining motivation.

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced of my new theory. Most people, including myself, are really motivated by one thing, pride. If you keep analyzing people's reasons for wanting good grades eventually you will scrape enough off the surface off to see pride as the core issue. I guess it was for me.

Once I lost my 4.0, I could not boast about it any more. Since I had been compelled to be humble about my grades I just gave up. Sad, but I think admitting this helps.

Am I missing some motivations? Am I wrong? Do you claim to be driven by something more noble? What keeps you grade grubbing?

Oaks and Wolf

I listened to a fascinating interview with the great modern American novelist Tom Wolf. For those not familiar with his writings, Wolf has written on a wide variety of topics in his novels that are related to the times in which we live. For example his novel “Bonfire of the vanities” has been hailed by critics as the novel about the 1980’s, along with his novel “A man in full” Wolf has established himself as someone who accurately observes and reports, through fiction, about what is going on in society, like Dickens or Dostoyevski.

In his latest novel “I am Charlotte Simmons” Wolf focuses in on what life is like for the eighteen to twenty-something college student in the United States. He went to many Universities talked with hundreds if not thousands of students and simply spent time with them looking at how they lived, studied, and spent their spare time.

One thing that is interesting is that Wolf, not a member of the Church (In fact most active members would find what he writes offensive), lamented that students don’t date anymore. They hang out and hook up. He believes that this along with rampant promiscuity and a “life is one big party” mentality will have a negative effect in the years to come as the baby boomers die out, and the Flower Children of the sixties enter retirement.

It is interesting that Tom Wolf, not a member of the Church, would point to the death of dating culture as a sign that something is amiss in society. He also was shocked to discover how little is required of college students as opposed to students in prior decades who worked themselves silly trying to meet demands that today’s modern college student would consider impossible and not even attempt to meet.

Dating takes allot of effort, but the benefits are much more desirable then hanging out. Last night I went on one and had a great time. It met Elders Oaks’ criteria of planned, paid for, and paired off and was wonderful. Not that the girl I went with was the one, but that we just had a great time that beat simply just hanging around, watching movies, and hoping that romance will bloom.

There was nothing superficial or extravagant in our date, it was simple and cheap and allot of fun. We went for some great Thai food, and just talked.

Perhaps there is something to dating that is superior. I find it interesting that two people, one who is very much in and a part of the world, and another who is very much out of it, would come to the same conclusion, that dating needs to be resurrected.

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