Marks Don’t Matter, Just Don’t Feel the Pressure or Competition

The decisions you make matter more than marks do.

Its not about the marks, but how you deal with them.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Since my school days, I have seen myself and others putting in efforts to get good marks, to become a topper, make our parents proud, do what teachers say, leave a lasting impression in school and always be a ‘good’ kid. I guess we never wondered if that makes us truly happy.

Marks do matter. Yes, they do. But like every other parameter in life, marks are a double-sided coin. It’s not that toppers are always successful and happy, or low scorers always remain back-benchers. Both assumptions are wrong. It’s not about the marks, but how you deal with them.

Secondly, it is essential to make informed choices. If we opt for a subject only because of our parents or peer pressure, and then struggle to get marks, it would result in failure.

Failure, I believe, is not because of our weak attempts or spirit but a clear-cut result of the choice that we make today. A person has to put in the hard work in some phase of his/her life. If one didn’t get good marks in school, don’t worry, the next step is college.

After college, you have your job and so on. It’s that one-time hard work that will bring you the desired success. Similarly for high scorers, it would not be the end. The expectations will be high from you and you will be required to perform more efficiently.

Whatever happens, ultimately you must follow your heart, then you will never feel the competition and you will always give your 100 percent, whatever be the case.

So, my advice to students appearing for Boards would be, marks matter, but only till the decision you make for the future stream. After that, the decision matters. So think before stepping on to the next stone.