It seems contradictory, right? Well it is not too much. In fact, it is quite logical and there are successful people in our society who were students with low grades at school but who in their lives were very successful, such as Steve Jobs.

In fact, we must be aware that school grades are just a number and where success really lies is not in the figure of a grade after taking an exam. It resides in the effort of the student, in his desire and his motivation to learn. In what really motivates him and makes him investigate to find out more.

Notes do not reflect reality

This is so, the grades do not reflect reality regarding the intellectual capacity of children nor do they reflect their abilities. As much as we think about the importance of exams or grades, the truth is that this is not everything for good learning and a good future for those who are children or adolescents today.

It doesn’t take perfect grades for a boy or girl to have a promising future. Good grades do not bring happiness and bad grades do not have to stigmatize students. Besides effort, another important factor for future success is perseverance.

Let’s look at some examples:

  • Steve Jobs or Bill Gates never graduated from college
  • Sergei Korolev (launched the first artificial satellite into space) was not good at school and did not get good grades
  • Joseph Brodsky, who received a Nobel prize for literature, was one of the worst students in his class

The abstraction of intelligence

Although it is true that in this society it seems that everything is wanted to be labeled, there are things that are not possible. Intelligence is something abstract and being good or bad in school will not make you better or worse in society in the future.

In fact, school is fine for learning the basics of life, but it does not prepare you for the future, nor for independent living. To be successful it is required:

  • Emotion
  • Motivation
  • Passion
  • Perseverance
  • learn from failure
  • Take mistakes as teachers

And this is not always learned at a desk. In fact, those who have a harder time getting those expected good grades have to deal with frustration, with failures, they must learn to manage these emotions in childhood and overcome adversity.

They learn to take risks, to look for solutions, to use their creativity in order to be successful in the short and long term. All this makes them extraordinary adults with great potential. A potential that should not be undermined by poor grades, no student should be labeled better or worse just because of their grades.

the inner leader

A student who does not get very good grades is usually a magnificent leader and knows how to guide others, despite the rules that the school may have. His creativity has no end and that is what really needs to be promoted.

Thinking outside the box is where success lies, because it requires creativity. You may not be interested in what you have between the books, but more than likely you have great interests in other areas, and you must discover them! Solve problems creatively, think that nothing is impossible if you try enough times… this is success!

It is important not to get discouraged, not to think that we are not capable… What must be kept in mind is that with desire and courage, we can achieve anything we set out to do and that is within our reach, taking into account our skills and abilities.