we're measured by a number.

My midterm grades were actually pretty good!  In high school I was always on the verge of C's but most of my midterm grades here were high B's and low As.  My GPA would be around a 3.3 if these were my final grades, which is pretty good for me.  I'm never fully satisfied with my performance in school but I think I'm on the right track to where I want to be at the end of the semester.  I think if I put in some more effort I could end up with my GPA in a place where its never been before. 
My effort is accurately represented by my grades.  I put a lot of time into my classes because I know I wont be successful with the same amount of effort I put into my high school work.  I know that in order to understand the material from each class I'm going to have to study out of class more than I'm used to.  Its a little hard to get used to but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.  
I know I want my grades in college to be higher than my high school GPA because I'm basically ashamed of it.  Most people wouldn't be but I just don't feel it accurately portrayed my performance and intelligence whatsoever. A GPA is an average of 4 years.  Obviously theres going to be points in those 4 years when things happen that you wont be able to perform as well as others.  This is something I've always thought of......