Take ownership of your grades

At this point, you probably have your fall semester or quarter grades. Some of you are proud of your academic performance, but some of you may not be happy with those grades. This is always the time I hear some students complain about how a professor gave them a grade...

While it is entirely possible that a professor hates you and gave you a bad grade, this is usually NOT the case. In fact, most of the time when you are surprised by a bad grade, it usually means you are doing something that professors hate.

If you are genuinely surprised by a bad grade, the best thing you can do is go to the professor's office hours and ask for feedback about your grade. Don't try to argue for a higher grade or make excuses because that will only make it worse...

Instead of blaming your professors for your bad grades, use it as a learning experience to help you prevent this in the future and improve your other grades.

What it boils down to is stop playing the blame game when it comes to your grades. They are your grades, which you earned. You are responsible for them and what you did (or didn't do) to earn them. Please be an adult and take ownership of your grades.

Got questions? Please feel free to ask The Advisor about it.