It's interesting how grades-focused high-achieving students are and then how failure is celebrated in some professional environments, especially in the tech sector.
With a few exceptions, I did quite well academically all the way through high school and got admitted to Michigan, of course, but because I never learned how to study (because I never really needed to), I struggled in college and finished with a 2.7 GPA. Part of that was also not really having my life / career goals at all figured out at that point in my life. But sure enough, I only vaguely recall getting asked about my grades and only in a few interviews until I was 2 years removed from college and not since (except for my graduate program application). More recently, I graduated with a 3.8 GPA in my graduate program (albeit that was all online and only took 1 or 2 courses at a time, most of which I was genuinely interested in).
Back to the problems in the corporate world, the key to success there is getting along well with everyone you work with, but I just didn't have the patience for all of the BS.
As for the problems in primary / secondary education, my mom retired from teaching last year but her final few years she was increasingly frustrated. The pandemic is clearly showing that remote learning is not a good option for the elementary level and only arguably for middle school (depending on how much the kids can take care of themselves and are trusted to be unsupervised). It can be useful at the high school level (especially for high-achievers), but it's still not possible for some classes, much less various clubs and activities..... Part of the problem is excessive testing but maybe that will start to go down as more colleges don't pay attention to SAT/ACT scores. Of course, with the continued decline of fertility rates, there might not be as much competition as in the past for spots at the top universities. The aftermath of the pandemic affects how this may play out, too.
