This is the first letter and the only one we want on our report cards. But some of us should take a look in the mirror. Illustration courtesy of senior Owen Blackwell.

  Now that the first four weeks of the second trimester is over, the teachers of San Luis Obispo High School are long finished with the grading and submitting period for the first finals of this school year. But even with a month already done, a big portion of the students are still not over unexpected or disappointing results in their report cards and their finalized grades.

   Leaving tigers in the hands and mercy of teachers, the letter grading system’s decimal game to decide if some were either getting a D or failing, and some to debate if there’s a difference between an A and an A-.

  “The letter grading system just puts a “i-barely-made-it-77-percent” and “I-barely-missed-it-79-percent” into the same box,” said senior Vanessa Alamilla. 

  The average effect the finals have on grades for classes offered at SLOHS is around 10 to 20 percent, the fluctuation usually being in the higher numbers with the AP and honors type courses. Even if these final results are less than half of the course grades, they still play an inconsiderably big role on the GPA of the typical American high school student. Sometimes, the game of percentages might not translate in favor of students when they get converted into the less specific letter-grade system, causing well-earned points to sometimes get lost in translation.

  “A big chunk of our grades are based on a single test and then students’ self worth is starched to a single letter grade,” said senior Natalie Ellman.

  “The letter-based system is the only system i’ve ever worked with, so i haven’t thought about any other options before. But many students worry about their grades, The difference between a B+ and an A- can prove very stressful and it can put a lot of pressure on our students. In the long run, I’m not sure that an impressive high school GPA guarantees a successful college experience but it helps provide a measure of potential. No matter what you accomplished in high school, college is always what you make of it. How hard you work, how much much time you dedicate and how committed you are to whatever you choose to do will propel you forward each and every day, said counselor Shelley Benson.

  With a system that traces its first records of usage to the 1880’s in Harvard, the letter grade system has been implemented into the American education system for more than 130 years. And even now with the times changing and plenty of teachers personalizing their grading systems for usually the convenience of the students, it is still a big factor in the documentary of academic success that might sometimes leave students in sticky situations. 

  But alas, don’t let a piece of paper with a red letter on the corner of it determine your self worth. Stay with high spirits, Tigers!