I was watching School of Rock with my kids the other day. What a great movie! Jack Black plays a character, Dewey, who becomes a substitute teacher in order to pay his rent. There is a character in the movie named, Summer (she is the one in the picture above showing her rock and roll horns). Early on in the movie, Summer consistently tries to get gold stars which correspond to good grades, she is only motivated by good grades. Dewey, point blank, tells her to stop being a grade grubber.
It is the time of year when I start getting phone calls from potential employers asking for recommendations about students. I try to impress upon my students that potential employers never ask about grades...they never have, they never will. What they want to know is "how does the student behave?" It is about professionalism. They want to know whether or not they will have to babysit or worry about how the student will speak to a patient or what the student will wear...At Rockhurst we stress the importance of professionalism. The students have often complained about the amount of classes and time spent on professionalism, however, after the students have graduated and worked for a while they start to understand how important the time spent on professionalism really was and is.
I just got off the phone with a potential employer. Some of the questions asked were: Will this student take initiative, Am I going to have to motivate the student, How will the student interact with physicians, How does the student respond to criticism. Not once did the employer ask about grades. So what is the take home message from my blog today? I think Austin Powers said it best (remember to use your best Austin Powers accent..."Oh, behave." Work hard, actually make an effort to learn, practice the golden rule, respect others, and forget about the grade. But guess what? If you do all those things...you will probably get an A anyway.
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