And, everyone gets a participation trophy, a medal and ice cream

That's crazy about Google. One would think that after a person has spent some time in the working world that what they've done after graduation matters more, but I guess if a company receives a high volume of applications for every job, it needs some way of weeding people out without having to look too hard at all of them.

 

Put it on my tab. I have a house account.

 

What are you talking about? Everything you learn in school is important. I always need to use algebra while writing articles and remember presidential political parties while covering games.

 

It's been a few days.

I don't give a flying fuck about any Goddamn trophy or medal... WHERE'S MY DAMN ICE CREAM!

 

It's like the wedding ring thing. Getting good grades is a social signal that you are capable of working hard and being goal-oriented. It's not about the actual learning.

 

Good point. I somehow managed a 3 point something GPA in college and can barely remember who my professors were, much less what they tried to teach me. I remember the names of damn near every bartender in town, though. Weird.

 

But 20 years later? Come on. People change.

 

Had 8 valedictorians in my graduating class. We didn't have a weighted system though. So the kids got straight A's. Of course, these students hada 4.0 including a bunch of AP classes.

 

Sure. But it's a buyer's market for labor right now. They can be as picky as they want to be, and if you're a guy who has gotten better since college, they can probably find someone who was better than you in college and has also gotten better since.

 

But the bottom line is getting straight A's with say ten "AP" courses throughout your four years is far different than getting straight A's in four years of regular classes so it should be weighted differently.

I do agree however, that a kid should not be punished for taking electives which is what happens.

One kid takes all AP classes and the core courses and has three study halls a day while another kid took all AP classes, the core courses and then threw in a shop class, or an art class, or music or something.

Both get straight A's but the first kid's GPA is a little bit higher because a larger portion of his credits are weighted.

The way you avoid all of this is you have a valedictorian committee made up of some key faculty members - everyone is eligible that got straight A's.

Have that group submit an essay, documenting what they've accomplished. Take a look at their SAT scores, community service projects and everything else.

The committee then selects the valedictorian and saluta-whatever the fuck from that group as the two most well-rounded and outstanding students.

Oh but wait, I forgot, we can't do that anymore, the people who don't win will be psychologically scarred for life..... What was I thinking, I forgot competition is the devil in this version of United States of America. :

 

Subjective competition? Is the new American national pastime figure skating?

 

One of my many responsibilities is compiling the top 10 bio boxes for our 25 high schools. It is pretty amazing that a 4.0 at some schools won't get you in the top 10. A couple schools had kids in the 2.8 range in their top 10, as well.

One lady called and was all pissy. Her daughter's school ranked her as 10th, but there was a tie in, I believe, fifth. Why didn't I include her in the top 10, mommy demanded. Uh, ma'am, your daughter wasn't a top 10 student, I said nicely.

Sure, she had a great GPA (above a 4.0 at a good school). Sure, mommy should have been proud. I wanted so bad to tell mommy that her daughter was a top 10 REJECT and a LOSER. I refrained. I also wanted to ask her if we should pay for therapy for her precious little girl. I refrained.

Last year, a different school submitted its top 10, and two of the students said that their highlight of their high school days was watching a female teacher dance to "She Gotta Donk" by Soulja Boy at an assembly. Oh. My. God.