Can you do well in math but not English?

Some time after receiving my first F, I was instructed to visit a school counselor. She looked over my grades and was baffled at how someone could do so well in math and fail English.

Math and English are two very different subjects. Some people are good at one and not the other. I was informed that people who get good grades in one generally get good grades in the other. How is it that subjects that are so different have students receiving similar grades in both?

Obviously, grades don’t reflect ability or interest. At least, not ability and interest related to the subjects. I think that what the counselor was telling me is that students who put the time and effort to get good grades in one subject are likely to do so in both.

This might sound good, but take some time to think about it. If you want good grades, it’s more about the effort put into those grades rather than ability. Since it’s about work ethic rather than ability, you can be a total moron and a successful student. I should know, I used to be one.

This raises more questions. What good is ability and interest in a subject? What good is mental ability? In school, these things are absolutely worthless. If schools took advantage of personal interests and abilities, an A in one and an F in the other wouldn’t be so unusual.

I know, work ethic is not something to be ashamed of. Working towards good grades does reflect a positive, but so does working towards maximizing personal strengths. What’s more important to us, developing an expertise in a strong subject for us or maximizing our GPAs?

Personally, I would rather be a strong individual than someone who looks good on paper. I would rather utilize my strengths than to aim as low as an A. I would rather be a good person than a good student. Since grades don’t help with my values, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so obsessed with my math grades. I should have been developing my math skills instead.