There is a great quote from the book “Walk Two Moons” by Sharon Creech.

The quote says, “In the course of a lifetime, what does it matter?” and is left for the protagonist, Sal, early on in the story. Lately, I have found myself thinking about this quote more and more.

Most of the time I’ve been thinking of that quote in instances when bad things happen to people. And I don’t mean things such as being diagnosed with a terminal illness. I’m referring to the small things in life.

For instance, I’ve seen plenty of students have minor panic attacks when they get a bad grade on an assignment in a class. Sure, grades matter, but they are hardly something to get so worked up about, especially if it’s just one assignment.

Bad grades happen. The most we can do is accept them and move on and hope to get a more satisfactory grade on the next assignment.

Yet, many students have the attitude of, “Oh my god, I failed the assignment, I’m gonna fail this class.”

Just stop. Failing one assignment does not mean failing the class, unless it’s a huge project or test. Yet, I see people worrying more about the smaller assignments when they fail those.

In the course of a lifetime, what does that one bad grade matter? If it’s a bad grade for a small assignment, is it really that big of a deal? Probably not.

A year from now, will you remember that bad grade? Will you remember it when you get your dream job? Will you think about it when you’re retired?

I doubt it.

When you get a bad grade on a small assignment, just remember it happens to all of us. In the grand scheme of things, it won’t really matter. Bad grades happen. Instead of worrying about them, accept them and move on. They aren’t worth getting your hair in a knot.