I'm not ashamed to admit I was a pretty good student. Always got good grades even though I didn't always work the hardest. I could pass tests like nobody's business, and all seemed good and right during my high school days.
But when I got to university, I learned that there's no substitute for hard work.
Perhaps my proudest mark ever was the 51 per cent I received for Calculus 101 in my first year at UBC.
In my class were a dozen engineering students and two of us lowly arts students needing to fulfil our science requirement. Because I had done reasonably well in math in high school - thank you, Mr. Olson and Mr. Diemert - I thought calculus was my best choice (I wasn't very good in lab science classes).
I memorized the formulas, I tried to plunk numbers into those formulas, but there was no way I could get it into my pea-sized brain how this all ended up in a coherent answer.
My instructor was patient with me, but after getting 33 per cent on my first mid-term - middle of the pack for this class - I went to ask him what I should be doing.
He told me to keep working at it, that he appreciated the work I was putting in and that calculus was tough and there wasn't much leeway with grades.
I kept on putting in the time, and when I wrote the final, I was sure I had failed. I spent all three hours doing everything I could to make the numbers and formulas work, but in the end, I really had little idea of what I was doing.
Weeks later, the professor put out the marks and somehow, I had passed, with my lowly 51 per cent and the third-highest grade in my class of 14.
When I went to talk to the professor, he made one request: Don't ever take another calculus class again.
"No problem," I said, "I think I've earned my science requirement."
Why do I tell this story? Well, 15 New Westminster parents showed up at a board of education committee meeting to complain about a math teacher who they believe is too tough on their children, failing as many as 70 per cent of them in a Fundamentals of Math 11 course.
One parent admits that her child didn't always have homework completed when spot checks were done and that the teacher wouldn't give part marks on a question worth multiple marks containing only a minor error.
Hmm, not doing your homework and getting something wrong is worthy of credit?
The student in question was only earning 70 per cent and could pull her mark to 80 per cent, but somehow, this student was "too embarrassed" to tell her parents about this low grade.
Well, let me tell you what my parents said when I showed them that 51 per cent.
"Now you know how hard you have to work," my dad told me.
That's a lesson I've never forgotten and probably why I can gleefully tell you about that 51 per cent.
Am I the hardest worker ever? Not by a long shot.
But do I know what it takes to get the job done correctly and efficiently? I would put my record up against anybody on that count.
I don't know the teacher in question, but from my past experiences with tough teachers, they're tough for a very good reason: they know that at some point, the only acceptable answer is a correct one arrived at through the proper channels.
We've all gone to high school and heard stories about who the toughest teachers were. Some students run as far away from them as they can, while others challenge themselves to learn from the best.
I'll use Mr. Diemert as an example.
The guy was tough, with a gruff voice, and he wasn't afraid to challenge students in a group environment.
I can still remember how scary it was when he asked you to come to the front of the class and do a math problem for all your friends. It was scary only if you didn't know the answer. If you did, well, you could show off, and with a knowing smile, Mr. Diemert would let you win that battle.
I took everything he threw at me, and before long, I respected how much he cared about teaching us the right way to do things.
So here's my advice to our current class of high school students: Don't take a low mark to mean you're a failure. Take that as a lesson that you might just have to work a bit harder.
And as you progress in life, 70 or 80 per cent is nothing to be ashamed about. After all, who but newspaper editors know everything 100 per cent of the time?
As for this lowly newspaper reporter, I'm just happy to tell the world about how proud I am of getting 51 per cent in a class.
Alfie Lau is a reporter for The Record and Burnaby NOW.
