The Coward's Way Out

I once asked my brother what the purpose of "Pass/No Pass" was in a university class. I was raised on red meat and potatoes, belief in Superman, and that education was measured in grades only. He said that you could use Pass/No Pass if you were taking one of those mandatory classes that you wouldn't take unless you had to and you knew that the grade you were going to get was going to f**k up your GPA.

We had our second midterm in Astronomy -- the "easy" science -- and I thought I did pretty well, with only a couple of questions (that involved math) that really threw me. But then I brought it home and showed it to the cousin ... okay, yeah, that one's wrong too ... and that one ... feck! and that one. Why can't I get my head around Newton's laws and Keppler and how tectonic theory fits in with the creation of the Earth's atmosphere? Why? Why? Why?

Yesterday I changed my status to Pass/No Pass in Astronomy. I felt like a big chicken, but the brother's right. I was on the fast track to losing my GPA and it's cumulative so once it drops it's impossible to bring it back up again.

This doesn't mean that I'll stop going to class or doing the homework or studying ... although I can see how that would be appealing, especially since half the class does it now and they seem pleasantly stoned and disinterested.

Maybe ignorance really is bliss.