Samantha Chaffin
Editor-in-Chief
I recently heard a story about a university student who was building a résumé to send out to potential employers after graduation.
On his résumé, the student listed his grade point average in the education section. This is a fairly common occurrence, especially for students with high academic achievement. This student, however, finished with a grade point average of a low two-point-something, which most don’t consider as falling into that category.
The professor who was assisting the student in building his résumé looked at the education section and did a double take. The rest of the résumé really wasn’t all that impressive, either, with little to no work experience to show for his time in school.
The professor spoke to the student about these concerns.
“Why would you include a less-than-average GPA?”
“What was going on that you finished with such a low GPA, anyways?”
It was then that the student explained that he had missed a lot of school and even some exams throughout college, making it difficult to maintain high grades at times, because he was often gone leading a campaign for a presidential candidate.
The lower GPA makes a lot more sense now, doesn’t it?
This, along with the fact that his work on the campaign had played a key role in getting the candidate elected, was nowhere on his résumé.
The student’s blatant oversight of such a vital aspect of his experience aside, what does this mean?
When applying to colleges, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, colleges are looking at numbers: standardized test scores, GPAs, the number of credit hours someone took each semester and so on and so forth. Employers are looking at numbers as well: the number of positions an applicant has held, the number of years of experience, the amount of time it took to complete a degree and the list goes on.
Aren’t we more than those numbers, though?
In the case of the story above, that student was much more than a number.
His low two-point-something GPA was far from a reflection of his skills and abilities. Had that student been in town and available for classes and exams, I speculate that his GPA would have been something that would be considered high academic achievement and would have warranted a line on a résumé.
So much weight is placed on numbers today that sometimes, it’s hard to remember that we are more than numbers. That said, it is vital that we demonstrate our worth, achievements and abilities as best as we can every opportunity we get.
Especially in situations like the story above, letters of intent, résumés, and other oral or written statements become increasingly important in being accepted into a school or program or being hired for a job.
While I will graduate from ISU in May with what I consider a respectable GPA, I know I was capable of doing better had I spent a little more time studying or a little more time preparing for exams.
On the other hand, school wasn’t my only responsibility or my only focus over the last four years, and that should matter and be taken into consideration.
Sometimes, it’s hard to look past the numbers and realize that there are always other factors that are often much more telling than any number ever could be. You may not know that, though, as there is an unbelievable amount of weight placed on those numbers and what they represent.
Many of us may often find ourselves comparing our achievements with that of those around us, which is never an accurate measure of what we’ve done.
Everyone’s circumstances are different and everyone’s priorities are different, and everyone’s strengths vary.
I implore you, students, graduates, employers, and admissions councils, to remember that people are more than numbers. Numbers are only one of the countless factors that make up a whole person and a whole story.
