Seemingly ‘unfair’ marks at university
My university essays seem to be getting a worse rap than I was expecting. Before starting university, I dreamed of acing everything with my hard work and intelligence, enjoying studying the thing I was passionate about, and finally not having to be bogged down by onerous examination rules. I was pretty wrong about that. Having got 68 out of 100 on both of my final essays this year, I was disappointed to achieve the same amount as a coursemate of mine whom I knew for a fact had attended very few of the lectures. I felt this was just fine, in a sense, as in the British university system 68 is technically a pretty high mark, but it wasn’t quite ‘just fine’: I was definitely aiming for higher.
Why the mediocre mark?
What was the reason for the mark I received? A quick Google search and we find many others with the same problem as me, which surprised me a little, and similar answers—it seems that generally speaking, and to put it briefly, others thought that the magic trick is to say what the lecturer wants you to say. Well, that’s just great. Just as it’s always been ever since my first important exams at school. What they clearly seem to judge us students, eyes bright with the desire for knowledge, on is how well we can parrot and mimic.
If you are sceptical as to what I am saying, that’s fine. But it did seem to me that the only times I was praised in any of my essays this year was when I had said the most banal and mundane thing, and any of my other intellectual explorations were haughtily disregarded. Perhaps it is a lesson for me, to stick as closely as possible to attempting to get through to the mere mortal that is the lecturer who is reading my essay, and not dare to embark on anything too difficult or other-worldly. But, still, it is disappointing. How long will I have to wait until I get to think and write freely, O democratic world?
Reflection and consideration
And yet maybe I’m wrong. Of course, there is a learning curve to everything, and I should be glad of that. I do have a friend who I know is rather intelligent, and can certainly put in the work, and does so fairly consistently, and I like being with him because I can tell he has ambition. And he sure gets the high marks (the high marks that I want). And maybe I’m frustrated and jealous. I’ve read a very highly marked essay of his; the one and only thing that would act as a counter argument to my feelings on this matter would be his veritable ability to incorporate tons of evidence to back up his points, even if it does seem a bit tedious at times.
Still however…
Still however it’s not nice to consider that my degree and therefore my future may be in jeopardy because of seemingly frivolous marking. I mean, one final grade lower and a potential, great employer might overlook me—you never know. It’s nice to have the grades that correspond to the calibre and hard work put in, rather than grades which correspond to whether or not I tick all the simple and easy boxes set down by the marker (which I, as a truly good student who thinks for himself really should, scornfully disregard). Ah, I miss when I was a kid, and I was actually rewarded for my writing. Maybe I’m just hurt and want to live in an ideal world too much?
One optimstic takeaway
As a final note, I would suggest to my future self, and to anyone else who feels stuck in this exact situation or a similar one, to not scornfully disregard the simple and easy tick-boxes. They’re there to help you. Jump through the hoops. Make sure you establish the basic things in an essay, or even in a conversation with a friend or colleague (since a conversation could be like a spontaneously improvised essay), before you embark on expressing your opinion. Perhaps that’s just what we have to do everywhere in fact and perhaps that’s a lesson for me; even though it feels like you’re parroting what you’ve already heard, maybe that’s actually OK, as long as you’re using it as a springboard for your own personal argument.
