Berkeley High School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

Page 6 text:

Garrij On OST of US have had a very successful semester. After we got through with the influenza, measles, whooping cough, heavy colds, and other things which go with the beginning of a semester in mid-winter, we settled down to business and did a fairly good term s work. At the end every- body gets a mark of some kind, and most everybody is satisfied. There are always a few who think that their marks are too high and, of course, a few others who think that they do not get all that they deserve. May I say, incidentally, that if we all got what we deserved this would be a very sorry world. I wonder whether those who receive low marks, and com- plain about them, consider their cases fairly. There is every reason why a teacher should mark a student just as high as he can, and when students fall below what they expect, isn ' t it probably because they have set their expectations too high with- out considering all of the factors involved in getting a mark? Are we sure that we made our greatest effort, and if we do, are we sure that we are taking a subject which we can master in the same time, and with the same ease, that other students do? Are we sure even that we are taking the subjects for which we are best adapted, and which will fit best our future needs? Marks should never be taken as a final judgment upon our mental ability. It is an old story that many people who do not do well in school succeed wonderfully in occupations which they take up later in life. Marks should not be taken as too certain a proof of superior ability, or as any proof at all of in- capability. We should look upon them as an indication of what we accomplished in a certain subject, at a certain time, under certain conditions operating in our own lives at that time. Under other conditions our success or failure might have been very different. Looking upon the results of our term ' s work from a reason- able point of view, there should be just one conclusion which every one of us should be able to draw — we have done the best that we can. We must now give serious attention to the next step, decide thoughtfully upon how to proceed, and then put our best effort into the task and carry on.