The 9th Grade Life: Hi, New Friend, GPA

By: Anonymous Submission

Campaign: Anything and Everything

#shortessay #highschool #mentalhealthawareness

As you wondered and laughed through your two years of middle school, from being a cute terrified little freshman to the: “I’m only a year older” 8th grader, till now. Start of the day, you find yourself standing in front of your new floored classroom which reads “902”. The realization hits you “Damn. I’m in ninth grade now.”

Being in 9th grade is like the first stage of five stages of grief— denial. While being a freshman in middle school is “a new form of lifestyle”, being a 9th grader is just preparing you to meet another one: Highschool. It’s hard to accept just how fast you’d have to finally face the future, and grow up some bits. Becoming a 9th grader is different, not only fundamentally but academically. This year we have a lovely new friend, GPA. 

As an IB student, GPA calculation applies starting from 9th grade, while the highest is a 4.0, in DP you can achieve higher with HL classes. GPA is a punch in the face, for students to actually see their grades on an international and actual “black and white” scale.

Many changes came along with our new friend, GPA. New subjects like second foreign language, biology, chemistry…. The 9 graders in my school, can choose their second foreign language: Spanish, Japanese, or French. For Asian students who perhaps are going to study abroad, having a basic understanding of a language other than English is mandatory and a show-off at the same time. Without many bases in science, biology and chemistry may be pretty challenging at times. Yet with enough brain power and some long hours of study sessions, you can manage. 

As everyone is now officially entered 9th grade, most mindful students aim for that big old shining golden name a “4.0 GPA”, including me. Like a trophy, a symbol to prove your capabilities. “Your actions have consequences”, fits the existence of GPA like a customized glove. If you mess up, you have to work harder to maintain it, if you can’t then you have to wave goodbye to that 4.0. 

Being in year 9 is terrifying, not only because of the approaching college application dooms, or the fact that you are now two years away from that young naive kid who just took a foot on your school’s campus. The biggest fear is the unknown future. But hey, do remember, that our future is for our present to build. In this instance, you are creating your own future. Though the hallways and stairs, laughs and complaints, at the end of the day, it’s for you to decide whether you become a Cornell freshman or let it all fumble.