The results are in...

After much angst amid many hours of studying, I have received my Corp Fin midterm grade. (drumroll, please). 59. That's right, I failed.

Or did I?

If business school has taught me anything, it's how to spin the truth to your favor. Maybe you took a leadership role in a club, only to discover that the extent of your contribution was to hang flyers. No problem, just spin it. You were responsible for coordinating the printing and distribution of 1500 flyers, which advertised the biggest club event of the year and, as a direct result of your effort, you increased attendance at said event by 47% from last year.

So did I really fail the exam? The truth is the mean on the exam was 67.8, with a standard deviation of 17. I know from my Statistics class, which I barely passed, that anything within one standard deviation of the mean is not statistically relevant. Therefore, my 59, being within one standard deviation of a mean that was almost failing, means I am right in the middle of the pack of my classmates. And since we know everything is relative in business school, this means that, at this rate, I should earn an HP in the class, which is just one grade lower than the highest grade, an SP. (Or, at the very least, a P, which is passing).

The basic gist is that while my 59 proves that I suck at Corp Fin, the performance of my classmates proves that everyone else also sucks at Corp Fin. I suck just a bit more, but not enough to truly fail the course.

What this also shows is how much I have grown up in the past 10 years. In the past (read: high school chemistry and/or college calculus) I would have melted into a puddle of tears if/when I received a 59 on a test. I would then run to the professor's office, crocodile tears still clinging to my cheeks, and ask where I went wrong, how I could do better.

But today, no tears. I just rationalize myself a higher grade.