Recovering my old, good (?) grades

Yesterday, I received a letter from France along with my High-School grades that I garnered between 1961 and 1966. I had totally forgotten about them and in reality – they were not quite as good – as I had pictured them in my evolving memories.

I could always “photoshop” them so they look a bit more flattering, but I'm too lazy to go that far! Yet, seeing them evoked a certain slice of my life, when things were more “black and white” and certain than they are today.

At least they were quantified in the form of grades and comments from my teachers. I've always thought that in math and science, I had to play catch-up and my grades confirmed it.

School then, just like today, was adapted to the “average student”, which is a minority entity, while we were all different, with different learning speeds and styles.

Sure I learned a lot of stuff during these years, but in retrospect, the efficiency of my education was perhaps just 15 to 20% of what it could have been and I'm afraid that this process hasn't evolved much...