Dear Universities,

Grades. Why do we need them? They’re simply the letters A, B, C, D, and F. If it’s to determine how much knowledge we have, educators messed up, because the alphabet goes A, B, C, D, and then E, NOT F.

All grades do is create unnecessary stress that makes young adults grow white hair. I mean, c’mon, white hair at the age of eighteen? At this rate, younger generations will be bald by the time they’re thirty.

What happened to learning for the sake of learning? Young adults wanting to pursue a higher education in college should be rewarded with a stress-free grading system. In place of a letter grade system, there should be a simple pass or fail requirement. Instead of ranking a student’s intellect with letters, a student can receive either a “PASS” or a “FAIL”; nothing more, nothing less. This benefits students by lowering stress, professors by simplifying the grading system, and yes, even you, universities, by removing the hassle of GPAs.

Students cannot be expected to excel at every subject and in every course. It’s completely ludicrous to assume that every young adult can understand both Analytical Geometry and Shakespearean Literature. Can horses fly and breathe fire? Similarly, every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses. As college students, it’s our job to know those strengths. After all, we have to choose a lifelong career; talk about anxiety. Universities, this may be shocking, but people are not born with their careers all planned out.

Rather than focusing on our grades, allow us to focus on learning the material. Most students cram facts, regurgitate it for an exam, and then forget about it later. I mean, we’re lucky that our brains aren’t the size of walnuts, like ostriches, but then again, we aren’t as blessed as whales, whose brains weigh about 17 pounds. We have limits to how much we can handle, and by balancing classes with a simpler grading structure, students can pursue extracurricular interests and get jobs.

Education is more than just coursework, it’s also the experiences that develop when knowledge is applied in the real world. Change the grading system, and maybe we’ll have time to build a computer software company in our garage; congratulations Bill Gates.

It’s also a well-known fact that stress completely destroys the human body. Stressing over grades causes extreme trauma and harms our physical well-being. We begin to study nonstop and refuse to make time for family and friends. For god’s sakes, we even deprive ourselves from Netflix. This suffering is equivalent to third degree torture, and the justice system refuses to take any action. How can students be put through such agony?

But Universities, if helping college students isn’t a worthy motive, at least help those pitiable, underpaid professors. Having to build an entire course, teach a tough subject, put up with docile college students, and only getting paid the bare minimum? I dare you to try.

By having a pass or fail system, professors worry less about assignments and exams, and instead encourage the students to appreciate and value the knowledge they are learning. Most professors are hell-bent on maintaining a rigid schedule so they can squeeze everything into a semester and have grades to report. It’s like they’re trying to stuff a space ship into a car. It isn’t happening. Instead of professors fussing over their precious gradebook, they can focus on helping students learn material and be able to apply it to their career goal. Remove the letter grade system and you’ve automatically made the professors relaxed.

If you prefer not to aid the students or professors, at least worry about your own university. Your primary job, as an educational institution, is to hand out diplomas and calculate fear-inspiring GPAs. These decimals are the bane of every college kid’s existence. A simple numerical analysis determines if you get into graduate school or whether you get hired for a job. One factor that forever determines the course of your life? No, thank you. The level of pressure that GPA’s create resembles that of an elephant sitting on mouse. Please don’t let us explode under this pressure. Even you must understand that it’s in your best interest to create an environment in which all students can blossom.  Universities, let’s use logic and make it easy for you to determine whether or not students get a diploma. When students pass all their classes, you can hand students their ticket to real-life.

It’s simple, easy, and beneficial for everyone. It’s a win-win situation; even Ludacris can agree with that.