A wise woman once told me “you are not your grades”.

It was a surprise to hear, at the time. All my life, I had been told, “grades make the man,” and “success comes only through college”. To hear, just once in my life, that I, as an individual, was unique, not because of my academic achievements, but because of who I was within, was truly a strange experience. I suppose it was that day, that the seeds of my resentment of the college system was sown.

In the beginning, it was doubt. A simple realization: Most college hopefuls sacrifice eighteen years of their lives, for what? For a meager chance? To be spurned by colleges that refuse to accept them? 

Slowly, I began to question the very foundations of my college beliefs. Why did I study? Why did anyone study? The colleges continually spread the message that they were searching for hard-working, intelligent individuals. Their sundry advertisements gave the impression that, given hard work, and determination, a spot in any prestigious college was guaranteed.

Yet, the stories my parents and teachers gave to me were the complete reverse. Hard work, they said, would not be enough. A good college would require not determination, but obsession.  Luck, would also be the largest factor in my acceptance. The colleges would judge me, judge my entire life on the basis of fallible SAT scores,  GPAs, and sketchy records of my extra-curricular activities. And that was when the revelation came.

What right do colleges have to judge anyone?

The answer: they don’t.

So why don’t you fling open those doors for us, Governor? How about letting all your “left behind” children catch up, Mr. President? We desperately need the help. Not just to find places for the overflowing influx of college students, but also to show young students all across the world that they are not their grades!

Because colleges don’t define who we are. Grades don’t define who we are.

We’re defined by our dreams.