With course registration coming up, I would like to share a quick note on an attitude shared among much of the student body that I think could be changed: People care far too much about their GPAs. 

I get it. Having that merit list label or a 4.0 GPA looks impressive for job applications and graduate programs, but the general inclination to make academic decisions based on this number seems to be cheating ourselves of the great opportunity that is a Kenyon education. We are lucky enough to attend a college with a wide selection of departments and majors that cover many disciplines and skills in the arts, sciences and their intersections. Prioritizing your GPA above all else makes you lose out on all that our beautiful interdisciplinary liberal arts degree has to offer. 

Every semester around this time, I hear many students discussing “mickeys,” a slang term short for Mickey Mouse, referring to either easy courses or professors. Rather than taking advantage of their one opportunity to enroll in a class that could expand their perspective or expose them to something new, these students search for an easy A on Rate My Professor. If you’re someone who would rather take Intro to Mickey Studies, Chat all the readings and answer emails in the back row the whole time without doing any actual work — you’re a GPA farmer. 

 Kenyon is supposed to be a challenging academic environment, with at least a few classes, even some outside of your major, that are difficult to get an A in. Furthermore, if you spent the entire semester taking “computer notes” in the front of the classroom, otherwise known as playing HoopGrids or DoorDashing Taco Bell 18 minutes before class ends, you have no right to complain. There are many different GPA farming archetypes, including Pass/Fail merchants, extension specialists or AI enthusiasts. I fully condemn each and every instance of GPA farming, and urge those who know they are guilty to reconsider.

When registering for classes this time around, instead of searching for the easiest class you can find, look for a class which you think sounds interesting, or that you might draw something meaningful from. Each of us are here to receive a well rounded education, and shouldn’t allow for GPA stress to take away special opportunities to enrich our learning. More power to you if you’re an econ major chasing that magna cum laude or whatever, just know that it’s not that deep and you’re a GPA farmer. If you want to cheat yourself, be my guest. But, please, if you sit on your computer in the front row, you gotta lock in. 

Robbie Lifson ’27 is a psychology and political science major from Sudbury, Massachusetts. You can reach him at lifson3@kenyon.edu.