Senior English and criminology and criminal justice major
This May, many great seniors will be leaving this university. They’ll hold degrees in different studies, they’ve had different internships, and they all have at least one abhorrently embarrassing story about how they acted at a party. But what every senior can agree on is the difficulty of the final-semester dilemma: To try or not to try. As one of those seniors graduating in May, I thought I’d break the decision down and perhaps make the choice a little easier for rising seniors.
Let’s get one thing straight: There’s no morally “right” answer. Those who choose not to try aren’t automatically lazy or apathetic, and those who choose to try aren’t nerds or workaholics. Only those who don’t weigh the pros and cons are the wrong ones.
The first thing you have to decide is who will see your transcript after you graduate? Will your employer look at your transcript? Will the graduate school you’ve been accepted to or waitlisted at ask for your final semester grades? This is the most important question because you have to cater your GPA to your intended audience. If you decide not to try and your employer or school won’t like that, maybe you shouldn’t get too relaxed. I am waitlisted for a very good school, and it requires a final transcript. It’s in my best interest to show I’m not a quitter by maintaining a relatively good GPA and hopefully persuading them to accept me off the waitlist.
The second thing you must evaluate is what your definitions of “trying” and “not trying” are. Is maintaining your current GPA (or one close to it) your version of trying? Is flunking your version of not trying? You have to set your standards before you dive in. If you decide not to try and end up failing a required class, was not trying really worth not graduating? Personally, I decided I would be OK with my semester GPA being 0.3 points less than my average GPA; any more would be too much of a drop for me.
Third, you need to look deep within yourself and visualize how much you value your transcript or GPA. Some people, myself included, just don’t like seeing bad grades or low GPAs on their transcript, even if no one else sees it. But you also have to think, is my pride worth all of the work I will have to do this semester? I struggled with this one a lot, but I came to the conclusion that if I try in a course and just can’t get that grade I want, I won’t be disappointed in myself, even if it doesn’t look pretty on my transcript, because I know I gave it my best shot.
At this point, I would say that if no one important will see your transcript and you plan on passing your required classes, you have a reason to not try. If you take this direction, don’t feel guilty if you’ve done a comprehensive pros and cons list. It simply wouldn’t make sense for you to spend your energy on grades that won’t matter. Perhaps you can take a well-deserved break before “real life” starts. And if you realize you have to keep chugging away in your last semester, just know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and you’ll be proud of yourself when it’s over.
Margaret Zelenski is a senior criminology and criminal justice and English major. She can be reached at mzelenskidbk@gmail.com.
