Amanda+G’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

=Am I a GPA or a Person?=

Numbers have been bugging me all year. Not the derivative of the natural log of 3,257 kind of numbers, instead the numbers that replace identity and define people. As we close our junior year, much of our focus shifts to college applications and all the lovely contents that showcase who we are to the colleges. Our GPA’s, community service hours, SAT, ACT, and AP test scores define much of who we are as we present ourselves to prospective colleges. It’s all these tests, their scores, and the ‘perfect’ GPA that has stressed us beyond belief this year: we strive for those ‘perfect’ numbers, the numbers that will set us apart from everyone else, the numbers that will get us into Stanford or Harvard. All of these, the 4.7’s, 36’s, 2400’s, 5’s, they consume all our efforts; we are driven to be the best and get these scores. It doesn’t matter whether we understand the topics we are learning, it’s rather about getting the A in the class to boost our GPA, or to get a 5 on the AP tests so we don’t have to take some class in college. These numbers seem to drive our education more than actually learning about the subjects. Colleges are more focused on the quantitative person than on the qualitative person. They have target GPA’s and standardized test scores, and sadly, if you don’t meet most of their number requirements, your application is tossed aside.

But it’s not just colleges that judge people based on numbers and grades; it’s ourselves and our peers. We are constantly judging and comparing people based on their grades and test scores. There is jealousy and mockery when people’s scores and grades are talked about on campus; people are in shock and awe when somebody gets a 97% on a calc test, but then turn around and snicker if the same person gets a 60% on a physio test. We almost revere those who have the 4.0’s and higher and scoff at people with lower GPA’s. It’s a numbers game, the strong prosper while the ‘weaker’ are looked down on. But we also compare ourselves to each other; when my friends do well on a test while barely studying and I stayed up til the wee hours cramming and get an unsatisfactory grade, the imperfect number, I compare my performance to my friends and become upset. I begin to question my own intelligence, I begin to lose faith in myself, and I judge myself poorly compared to everyone else and their seemingly ‘perfect’ scores. It also works the other way around; when someone gets a good grade while others get just ok grades, they can become cocky and create envy and bitterness in return.

Even in the work force, numbers play a role in people’s judgment of others. When it comes to rankings, many workers see the office building as a totem pole with the multimillionaire boss sitting in the penthouse office at the top, while the workers toil towards the bottom of the pole. Divisions are drawn from this view of status; the workers on the lower end of the pole view their superiors, with bigger paychecks with more 0’s, with envy; those on the upper floors look down on the workers as part of a machine, they are not individuals, just headcount they must pay to make the corporate machine work. In the working world it seems like the higher up you climb the pyramid and the more 0’s you tack onto your paycheck, the more jealousy you will see below you. You will also find it getting very lonely as you reach the top.

In the America I hope to live and work in as an adult I would like to see much less emphasis on the use of standardized numbers to define the value of an individual. We are becoming so addicted to the ‘perfect’ numbers, we want the best grades, to be in the top ranked school, get the highest paying job and we are beginning to lose our individuality in our quest to be the perfect numbers. We are moving away from the qualitative aspects of viewing someone. We don’t look at a person anymore for where they come from, what they have achieved, their work ethic, and even their personality. Instead we size each other up, determining status and rank quantitatively. Even the diversity programs in many companies use quotas – numbers – to judge their effectiveness. We aren’t serial codes, we are human beings, for goodness sake, and we should start seeing each other as fellow people.

I want people to not associate me with my GPA or my test scores; I don’t want to be thought of as Amanda Gilchrist, the girl with a 4-point-whatever. I want people to associate hard work, dedication, kindness and friendliness when they hear my name, not some cold number that ranks me against others. I want fellow students to be able to enjoy school and learning, not have panic attacks at 1 in the morning over some calculus exam that may boost or sink their grade. I want people to not focus on their GPA or their SAT score in the hope of getting into Princeton or Harvard; I want to see them enjoy school and not simply live for those ‘desired’ numbers to get into the #1 and 2 colleges, and go to a college that suits who they are, not the schools that supposedly look better on a diploma or resume. I hope to see schools start looking holistically at the individual and their personal accomplishments and attributes instead of just GPA and scores. I know that numbers are necessary since we are going to be just a handful of applications among the myriad that will descend upon the colleges in the fall. But we aren't robots with serial codes that can tell them everything that we can do; we are individuals who come from all different places and each of us has a story which numbers can’t tell. Numbers are important to show how you've done in class and on standardized testing, but less emphasis should be placed on those numbers; instead I hope to see an America where our personal story and our accomplishments can equal or even outweigh those numbers. But most importantly, I wish to live and grow old in a place where people are not judged or represented by just numbers. Where kids can go to school to enjoy their subjects, where their GPA isn’t a competition with their classmate, where they don’t have to feel bad about their ACT score, and in the workplace people admire those on the top floor and realize that they had to start on the bottom floor too. This is a world of people, not numbers, and I think it’s about time we start treating each other like people.

So here is my pledge as I head home to enjoy the summer and prepare for my senior year: I may ask you how you are and what’s new. I will NOT ask you about your GPA, SAT, ACT, blood pressure, batting average, or cholesterol level, so long as you don’t ask me mine.