Good Student or Good Memory

I haven’t been a formal student for years, but something still bugs me about school.

How does the educational system differentiate between students who have good memories and can ‘psych out’ the professor or teacher and are good at taking tests from those who really understand the subject and have a talent for it, but whose memory isn’t that great or aren’t good at playing the game or taking an exam?

Of course, I’m talking about myself here, but I’m sure I have a lot of friends out there. You know who you are, the ones who sweat bullets to get by, but enjoyed and had a real feeling for the subject and in real life were good at their job despite not being the best student.

The way things are you are labeled brilliant if you can barf up the right answers, even if a month later you don’t know what the heck the course was about, and average or a little better if you scrape by, but have a feel for what you learned.

Even though I was never interested in Med School, that one as well as the Nursing School a daughter attended comes to mind. Are the students who get straight A’s really going to make the best Doctors and Nurses? Isn’t there an important if not critical quality not measured by grades lurking somewhere?

I think so.