I’ve never had to defend a grade before, much less decide what grade I wanted (I bet most of us haven’t).
Looking back over this semester and comparing this class to others, I am faced with the dilemma of deciding what grade I want and how to defend it.
Of course, I want an A…who doesn’t (except for Jon I suppose, who is taking the class pass/fail)?! But why do I want an A? I want an A because it will help my GPA. I am a senior applying for seminary, and good grades can certainly help my application. Seminary schools aren’t looking to see exactly what I learned as an individual, and these classes aren’t even pre-requisites for grad level courses. The grade doesn’t actually matter for any reason except the GPA (that I can think of).
I think we have all come a long way. We started the semester thinking it was crazy that a professor would do this, maybe we didn't even really believe it was happening...but it did happen, and we still showed up, still participated, and even worked together on a class project. We are exploring new ways of learning, and we are learning more about ourselves and the responsibility that we have in a class to learn. We haven’t just learned the things on the syllabus; we have discovered new things in ourselves and our peers. I think that is what makes a great professor; Dr. Borders has encouraged us to step outside the box of education to explore and question new things.
As far as the normal grading scale goes, I might have earned myself a D, a grade I have never made in any class at any point in my life. I don’t think that a D reflects everything that I have learned from this class. I don’t think that a D reflects the effort that I have out into the class.
My freshmen year, I got a C in a religion class, the only C I’ve made in my college life. My professor really didn’t like me, I had the wrong edition of the text book, and I never felt prepared enough for her tests. When I compare that experience to this semester in Jesus and the Gospels, I can’t help but think that I have gained so much more from this class. The shear knowledge that I could decide my grade took the pressure off of my learning. Yes, sometimes that meant that I read for this class last, or I put other projects before my responsibilities for the class….but that doesn’t mean that I neglected the class. I only missed one class (that I can remember) the entire semester. I took notes every day. I participated in class. I even took the things I learned into other class discussions and general discussions outside of the academic atmosphere. I think that is what learning should inspire. The fruit of knowledge is discussion. I feel completely prepared to share my thoughts and understanding on topics that we have covered in class. I even desire conversations in which I can express who Jesus is and what He was like to the people around him and His importance to us today.
The semester I have gained a better respect for my professors, for the learning environment, and the people who make it up. When we come to class unprepared, we are hurting ourselves, our peers, and our professors. I have learned about myself and the ways that I study best…as it turns out, I retain information better when I’m learning about something without the pressures of a future test. It helps me to become more engaged in the subject and appreciate it more deeply.
So, I want an A. I don’t know if I deserve it, but I honestly don’t think the letter on my transcript says much at all about what I’ve learned. Yes, I have learned about Jesus and the Gospels, I have attended class, I have read some pretty good books, and we even came up with a class project that could change the way people think and act, especially on our campus. I think the final product says the most. We didn't just say things needed to change, we changed things and we have done something to encourage and effect more change to improve education at Huntingdon.
I wish we had gotten this far in Paul and His Letters last semester. We had so many great ideas and we were challenging each other to learn and grow, but we just ended up with this GIGANTIC book of a paper that no one in his right mind would voluntarily read...and nothing happened. I feel like this was a chance for us to jump into something, and we really did. We might not have dressed up like Zealots, but we found them on our campus and we connected the Bible with our own lives. How many colleges can say they have classes like this one?! I'm honored to be a part of it.
