Except for English and history, my high-school grades were low and my SAT scores were mediocre. I was basically glum-minded and lacking in ambition, but at the same time quietly horrified and appalled that my shitty scholastic performance would be casting a dark shadow for years to come, at least in the matter of college admissions.
It was a difficult, unfair, punitive system. I felt oppressed by it. Seriously bummed. I didn’t develop any fire in the belly about movie journalism until my mid 20s, which is when my life began to turn around. But until that point…
And yet today the concept of scholastic merit and proving your mettle with good grades has been almost completely jettisoned, certainly as far as high-school and college-age POCs are concerned. Which is why Asian-American parents are irate at equity policies — because their kids seem to always earn good grades
