One can often hear students complaining about their academic record. Many find the existing grading system either too subjective or too superficial and claim that it does not reflect the real abilities of a student. Personally I find it difficult to complain, as I have excellent grades in all subjects, and actually find the system quite objective. The issue that draws my attention, however, is the type of abilities reflected.
Does having the same grade in different subjects mean that you have equal abilities in them? In my opinion, this idea is not true. The same grades simply show that a person works hard, however, the abilities used may be of the opposite kind. For instance, I am definitely very quick at humanities, having no problems with foreign languages, picking up new words, memorizing grammar rules having read them just once, being brilliant at history and enjoying literature. However, in order to get the same marks in formal sciences, I have to spend long hours with the books, working out problems and reading and rereading the material. Do my excellent marks show the same level of abilities in both cases? Not a bit. What they show is that in the first case I demonstrate certain talents, but in the second one the abilities which were awarded with excellent marks were persistence and my immense wish to study.
So, to sum up the above mentioned, I firmly believe that my academic record accurately reflects my abilities and my knowledge of the subjects. However, it does not specify the type of ability I have and does not show if I am naturally talented or just diligent and hard-working.