Remedy

A+

The bell rang, as students scurried out of the classroom. A smell of Germ-x permeated the whole room, leaving clear nostrils to head out the door. Books were stacked on each wooden shelf from A to Z, while a basket sat on one desk filled with today's assignments. Familiar faces came in and out in anticipation with infectious smiles and twinkling eyes. I was sitting in the back, finishing my make-up work, reviewing for the quiz, until I heard one unsatisfied and hesitant voice.

 "Before I go, Professor. I have a really important question to ask you. Why do you give us A's on all our tests, assignments, quizzes, and everything?" A girl asked.

I looked up at her and instantly opened up my folder to look at each grade. She's right, they're all 100%, A's. 

"My response to your question is certain and clear, Susan. To boost your confidence and your GPA to a promising future," he says. 

"Shouldn't you be honest with your grading rubric though? What if we don't put effort into it because you're always so nice about the grades?" She stands right in front of his desk, placing her hand on her heart, and then slapping it to the side of her thighs. 

"You still get A's, Susan. You see, students have so much more classes to take. That's why I always make sure to educate them during class and personally. That is, if they need me, and most of the time, they don't. If they want to get more in depth with the topic, they are welcome to self-educate themselves anyways, as well as raise their hand for a particular question. Speaking of that, my office hours are right on the front door if you ever need me. However, your effort and brilliance clearly stands out in all your assignments, so no problem for you. Therefore, you may chow chow now. Anyways, I can't force someone to love a certain subject, but I can make it exciting and somehow influence them in a positive way. Besides, once they have their careers in the future, they will already be working hard, and it's best to not sweat you all too much on just specific assignments. Learning is better when we see progress, and we don't have to rely on numbers for everyone, right?" As he chuckles, he leans back on his chair, places his foot on his desk, and fiddles the  pen around his finger. 

"There will never be progress with a 100% every time, sir. We'll never know how we do Professor Johnson! I appreciate it, but honesty is what I believe in more, no matter how sensitive I can be to feedback. Let me ask again then sir, what is hard work without any numbers involved?" She clenches her fist behind her back, enough for him to not see, and then relaxes again. 

"Listen, the GPA doesn't define a student's intelligence. If you want honesty, you come see me. Hard-work is hard-work, we all grow and learn in life even when we aren't being graded. Life itself is a lesson," he smiles and throws the pen to a cup in the distance. She looks around the movement of the pen landing inside the cup in complete shock. 

"Sir, I know that specific part, we are all capable of doing anything even, and I am honored to the fact you treat us all so equal. However, there are so many not even trying, especially in my group work. I was the only one doing all the work sir, and they knew you were making it easy on us, so they let it pass...You're saying an A for laziness then?"

"Yes, Lucy. I know you are the one who put all your energy in your work, I can see that. However, the choices and decisions they make, will shape up their future. If they want to be a good student and have a great career, they are responsible to do so.. I hope you find my point here."

"You're saying that it's our responsibility to be true to ourselves, regardless of what grade we get?"

"Exactly. Say for example, you cheat on a test I have given you last week. I give you an A anyways, but you know what you did, and you yourself will feel it. If you have weak knowledge in this area, it will hurt you deeply and for your future. If this class is really important for your future, which I believe it is, then you will take it seriously and delve into it," he coughs and nods. 

"Please just include that warning in the rubric. I believe you're an example too, sir."

"Oh, and you are the future example, young one."