THE C STUDENT

There's a myth running around saying that C students make better employees, even suggests that they end up doing better in life than B or A students.  I'm a former college professor who gave out lots of C's over the years, and most of the kids who received them were disappointed . . . no all, but most.  And I agonized some over grading, especially when a student was close to getting a higher grade.  That's when I took other factors into account, like class attendance.  My scale was always a ten point scale, meaning a C was from 70 to 79.  But a fair grader looks at overall class performance, not just a particular student's performance.  You look to see where the fair breakpoints come in.  If a bunch of kids are clumped in the 68 point range, and there's a jump down to 65 from there, you're wise to move the starting point for a C to 68.  And you never worry about giving out too many grades in the same category.  If well over half your class earns C's, then give them that grade.  And if you have a disproportionate number of A's, don't worry about it.  A student should get what they earned. 

But . . . what about those C students?  C stands for satisfactory but average grade.  We'd all be satisfied with a satisfactory worker, but most folks don't really want a surgeon working on them who went through school with a C average.  I don't want an accountant who's a C person, if you get my drift.  It could well be that a C student earned the grade because they put in average effort in that particular course.  They might've been capable of more, and that's probably the case with most C students.  But on the other hand, they might just be average to the point where a C is about as good as can be expected of them, and that too is often the case.  In short, there's no bragging point about being a C student or a C person.  There's no shame in it either because if you're a C person, you've got lots of company. 

Philip Wylie, in his book A Generation of Vipers, tore into the common man as being less than satisfactory.  He pointed out all the average things comman man was capable of and said that the only thing good about a common man was his occasional rise above the commonplace.  I think he hit the nail on the head.  Yes, average behavior and performance is mediocre and nothing special, but those same people who spend the majority of their time performing at that level sometimes step forward and do something spectacular.  In other words, sometimes a C person gets an A for his work.  And
that, my friends, is a lot better than an A person doing C work.