6/10, come see me after class. My heart sunk into my shoes as I looked back onto that grade. The paper was covered in red marks and scribbles. How? The test was easy… I thought to myself. The class time ticked on as I dreaded the talk after class. Eventually, the time came and I walked up to my teacher’s desk. 

“You’ll have to come in and retake this. I don’t want your grade to be a 60% for the rest of the quarter.”

“Okay,” was all I was able to get out before I rushed out of the room. Man, it was only the first week of theatre and I was already failing! But above my anger, there was major disappointment. I couldn’t believe I could let myself do something like that! Ugh, and the teacher didn’t even care. Jeez.

Eventually, I could feel the tears of anger and disappointment swell up in my eyes. How would my parents react? Could I even pass middle school with this? More than anything, I wanted to rip up this dumb piece of paper and just get a good grade. 

About a week later, I got an email that I needed to retake the quiz. How could I have forgotten? I scolded myself as I signed up to retake it. Guess things just slip away quickly, hahaha. I laughed quietly to myself. Snap back into it, I heard a voice inside my head tell me. 

As soon as I walked into that small classroom, I saw only myself. I could feel my palms get sweaty as I walked up to the teacher. 

“Could I have the test again?”

“Yes.”

I sat down and began. It was surprisingly easier than the first time. Hmph. How could I have gotten such a bad grade the first time? I finished the last question and checked over everything one last time. This better be the last time. I got up and turned it in. Immediately, the teacher checked it over. 

“Hey, 10/10 this time. Nice. Remember not to sweat the small stuff.” they said and gave me a small smile to go along with it.

I gave a small smile back. Maybe the teacher wasn’t so bad. I looked back on the test, but now with a tang of sweetness. 

Remember not to sweat the small stuff. It kept ringing in my head, even after I walked out of class. I guess they’re right. You could retake it from the beginning, no? So, I really shouldn’t have sweated it that much. Thank you, teacher. So then, I walked out of class – not only with a better test score but a different view of life.