Grading System RatingMy formal and institutional education began in kindergarten while my father was stationed at Fort Carson, a military base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I don't remember much about kindergarten except that I found it very boring. My first report card showed that my progress was satisfactory in all my subjects, with the exception of cooperation with my peers where I was categorized as “needs improvement”. I don't quite remember why I was graded that way, nor do I think that grade had much of an impact on my college admission or how my parents rated me. high, but I wonder what the criteria might have been to achieve this. a rating of “satisfactory”. What was the point of this bulletin? Looking back, I see this incident as my first introduction to the education system. My academic performance would be represented by the grades I received on my report card. At the end of kindergarten, my father was transferred to Fort Devens, Massachusetts, and I continued the next twelve years of my education in rural New Hampshire. As I progressed through the school system, report cards started to make more sense. They became a symbol of my success as a student and, to some extent, my success as a person. I received straight A's in the first few years and looked forward to entering fourth grade, when my exceptional grades would be recognized by my name in the newspaper under the heading "high honor roll." With few exceptions, I maintained my desired spot on the “high honor roll” list throughout my middle and high school years. Most of my friends felt the same way and very often, when we were given an assignment, we would look at each other's grades before even worrying about our own. The competition was intense, but unspoken. And the education system has quietly confirmed our strategy. I had a 4.01 GPA entering my senior year of high school. I was proud of it and determined to maintain it, or even increase it. AP classes at our school were weighted on the GPA scale; an A was worth 5 instead of 4. With hard work, I was able to apply this system to my advantage. That is, until Maureen Grady, my AP calculus teacher, stood in the way of my goal of graduating with a perfect GPA..