99%
99% Is So Lackluster
So dulled by it’s lack
of profound greatness
99 isn’t enough when
Valedictorians earn 100s
When A+ makes the decimal
Of a difference
Between good and great
What’s the point in being
A decimal point short
Of remembered?
I could be great.
If I went the extra
Two miles not just
The extra mile
If I stayed up the extra hour
To do the extra credit
To get to the extraordinary
Level that makes champions
If I quit everything else
If I focused on school
With a single minded dedication
To get that single percentage higher
To be the single best student
Not the second or third
Or any level below perfection
If I could just Level up
Then I would be great.
Then I would be happy.
But would I?
Be happy just to slide
Another certificate
Under the glass cover
Of my desk
Another flimsy accomplishment
To add to the collection
Why can’t I just be happy
With a 99%?
A grade that while it may
graze at my pride
Is still good
This isn’t really about 99%
Is it?
It’s about
How underneath everything
I can be so utterly ambitious
Yet too lazy to truly follow through
On my dreams of perfection
It’s about
How I want everything
But nothing that I want
Gives me what I really want:
To be wanted.
I actually don’t have 99s but I thought it had the most figurative value as a representation of imperfection
#academicvalidation #grades #gradingscales #highschool #imperfection #school
