I'm not a 7 | Sofía Camussi | TEDxRíodelaPlataED

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

What effect can school grades have in students? How do they influence the choices we make about our future? Sofia Camussi, just 18 years old, shares how she discovered her passion and what happened when she did.

What would you do when,
during Science Camp,

you're put together with three friends,

you are given a piece of thread

and they ask you to calculate
the width of a creek?

You discuss and try to see
what to do with the thread,

you cross the creek
a thousand times,

and try to see how many times
will the thread fit in it.

You will be tired and wet for sure.

Then, almost frozen,
exhausted and soaking wet,

I wondered if there was a way
to calculate that width

without getting more wet.

And then, I stood on the shore

and started to watch.

And I understood that three distances
were formed there.

From my feet to my eyes,

from my eyes to the other shore

and from that shore
to where I was standing.

And I remembered:

Soh Cah Toa!
(Laughter)

A basic trigonometry concept

that seemed unnecessary
until that moment,

was giving me the answer
to a real problem.

And even though that situation
was very simple

the process I had to make at that time

was very different to anything
I had done before.

Because it was mine.

It was real.

And something inside of me woke up,

something that was asleep

just because I believed I couldn't.

But that time I could
and I went crazy

about knowing more
about things and reality.

So I started searching for
similar experiences to this camp.

I went to the Balseiro Institute,
I convinced my friends

to make a solar water distiller
for a CONICET contest.

I got into scholarships, Olympics
and camps to continue learning.

So, through the year,

I became "science girl" at school.

But then this happened.

I got a 7 in almost all subjects.

I guess it was because
I was growing, right?

I mean --

it's normal to lose those interests
through time.

Even more when you are a kid
that suddenly

gets to a new world,
full of obligations

and things that take time from
what you considered was essential.

Look, during all our high school years

in order to pass all the subjects,

all Argentinean kids are asked
to get more than 6 or 7.

I remember that when I was little
I had this concept of school

as a place to learn exclusively

and to be marveled with new stuff.

I dreamed to be an astronaut,
to be a scientist,

I remember I used to play
with my friends

to be what we wanted to be
when we grew old.

My friend RocĂo would always
start to draw,

saying that someday
she would be an animator.

Today, RocĂo is almost 19

and started the
English Translator degree.

What happened with her dream
during those 10 years of her life?

She must have changed her mind.

She realized she didn't like that.

I asked her and her answer
was something like:

"What happens is that to be
an animator you have to study math.

And I've always failed it.

However, I always got
high grades at English.

It is easier for me."

And this happens because school

is the only official reference kids have

about our intellectual
and academic performance.

And that's the result
that a simple grade has

inside the educational system:

you end up not following your passion.

Because not only you get a 3 or a 4,

you are a 3 or a 4.

And you will continue to be that 3 or 4.

Grades end up separating us from 1 to 10.

You, the 10 boy, are the best of all.

You, the 1, be ready for what will come.

That contradiction of being
the science girl and a 7 at once,

made me realize that actually,

if you finish school

and have the courage to go to university,

you'll probably fall into
what you were told before.

You make a balance
of the best grades you had

or the easiest subjects for you,

and you look for a career
that is similar to that.

So a lot of times
what we learn at school is:

"If I get high grades in this subject,

I must like this, so this
is what I should do.

And during the rest
of high school,

you just focus on passing subjects.

In the end, students learn
to be students.

And to answer only what we are asked.

But, when do we actually learn?

It took me a lot of effort to understand
that I was more than my grade.

That I am more than those sevens.

And when I did,
my grades didn't change much.

What did change was
that I started learning.

But how long can you be a rebel
and not care about grades?

I mean, you can avoid them in December,
March, or even the next year,

but if your revolution fails
you have to repeat the year.

We can't do this alone.

We need help.

The educational system needs a change.

And I am sure that
the passion and interest

that my friend has for drawing,

is worth more than a 3 or a 4.

School must be the place
that teach us to think.

To search for what we love.

To be how we want to be

and not how the numbers tell us we are.

Today, my report will say I'm a 7.

My partners, teachers
and my whole school

will still have the contradiction
of "science girl" full of sevens.

But for myself, I am more than a number.

Now, grades,

are they really necessary?

I don't know.

But to show us, during all
our learning process,

that we are and can much more
than those numbers

and I'm convinced that
it is absolutely essential.

Thank you.

(Applause)