Good news, class of 2016: Grades don’t matter

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I’d like to offer local high school graduates some important advice for the future: Don’t study too much in college. It’s not the sort of wisdom graduates expect to hear, especially from a high school teacher, but I mean it very sincerely.

Take it from a guy who spent years in undergraduate and graduate school agonizing over making straight A’s: Your grades mean very little. I wish I could go back in time and offer myself this same insight. It would have spared me a lot of grief, and countless hours of wasted effort.

From a young age, I was pushed very hard to do my best in school. Great grades would translate into even greater opportunities as an adult, I was taught. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true.

When I graduated from Queens College with a degree in media studies and journalism in 2000, I put my 3.85, magna cum laude grade point average proudly atop my resume. Over the next five years I wrote for two newspapers and went on numerous interviews. Guess how many times a potential employer marveled at my GPA?

Zero.

I decided to switch careers in 2005, so I applied to the New York City Teaching Fellows, a rigorous program for career changers interested in becoming teachers. Surely my stellar grades would give me an advantage over the other applicants, I thought.

Wrong.

While I was accepted, I later learned that a 3.0 would have more than sufficed. Thinking back on the herculean effort I put into college, I could have pulled a 3.0 in my sleep.

I did even better when I earned my master’s degree, finishing with a 3.95. It would have been a perfect 4.0 if a professor hadn’t given me an A– in my final class. Still, what have those grades gotten me today?

Zilch. I don’t have a better job or make any more money than my friends who fared far worse in school.

I’m not advising students to goof off or flunk out of college. Earning a degree is essential if you want a decent job nowadays. If you were fortunate enough to earn a scholarship, by all means work for the necessary grades to maintain it.

Work hard at learning, but not at the expense of your sanity. Put in an honest effort, but never lose sight of the fact that there’s virtually no difference between an A and a B. A few C’s sprinkled in won’t kill you, either.

Understand that your future employers care little about your grades, and much more about your hands-on experiences. So, if anything, shift some of your focus in college outside the classroom. Seek internships as early and as frequently as you can. When you finish one, start another. Be willing to work for nothing for the sake of networking and gaining experience.

Ask any journalist, teacher, lawyer or doctor where they mastered their craft, and few will mention a college classroom.

I wish I’d known this 20 years ago, when I graduated from high school. I probably would’ve had even more fun in my college years than I did. I definitely would’ve had a lot less stress.

Congratulations to all the classes of 2016, and best of luck in the future.

Nick Buglione, a 1996 graduate of Martin Van Buren High School in Queens Village, teaches at Cardozo High in Bayside, Queens, and is a freelance journalist. He lives in East Meadow, and is a former editor of the East Meadow Herald.