Did I kill my blog? Portfolio 16 again

How to please the postman

By Jake Goldbas, Staff Columnist

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Published: Friday, September 18, 2009

Updated: Friday, September 18, 2009

Here’s a quick way to build harmony: write home. Here’s something to write home about: your grades.

The next time you get a grade above a B, write 3 sentences on loose leaf about how you got it and maybe if you’re feeling bashful, you can say to the person you write to that he or she inspired you. Tell your loved ones you are working hard and thank them for their continued support (this is the crucial point).

The gut instinct is to send it off to your parents. This is spot on. Those of us who are close to our grandparents, you could think of them too. Write to the teachers in high school you were close to (talking especially to freshmen here). Those of us involved in local church, synagogue or mosque groups could write to those groups at home. Those of us involved with community organizations such as the Masons, the Lions Club or Rotary International could write to them.

You never know; the last time I sent my grandma a letter about an A I received, she sent me a letter of congratulations and $20 back.

The reason that we cannot usually tell our friends about our grades is because of the natural differences between us. It is overly competitive to say that you got higher than someone else, like holding it over his or her head. On the other hand, it is harsh if they score higher than you do. So people generally keep to mum about this kind of thing.

If you fail or are failing a course, seek help, but also recognition. These two are dependent and correlated. Writing home about this kind of thing should not hurt either. Say you work for five hours on a paper and the professor still fails you -- you might gain some much-needed support.

I have a three-page paper worth 20 percent of the entire course grade due today, for example. Any grade for this paper less than an A minus hurts me significantly.

Fairness and justification are important parts of administrators jobs. Make it easier for them by sending your papers in. Parents are also likely to side with you if they realize what your side is, in this case your paper, test, homework and so on.

Furthermore, say that you’re taking a course on nuclear physics and you take a test. Seeing that you got a nuclear physics grade that is a B plus for some ruthlessly hard test is more impressive if parents, grandparents and organizations actually see the test.

Sending an A plus to the chancellor’s office might offer them encouragement and remind them why they are here. You do not have to go that high though. You could send a paper to a dean or a particular professor you are close to. This can help with the recommendations that they have to write for you later, as they will see some of the variations and nuances of your work. For example, if you are an engineering major who is getting an English minor, seeing your other work will help them write a well-rounded recommendation for you.

Lastly, instead of throwing out old papers, you could mail them home. Have your parents put those letters on a shelf in a closet back home. You can then use this portfolio of graded papers on resumes or graduate school applications.

School should be an occasion to write home about -- do it.