Do our grades REALLY matter? (486)

        As I'm sitting in my bedroom at my desk at 12:07 am on a Thursday night, only half done with the load of homework I have, I think to myself: What is this all for? Do grades really mean life or death like everyone in high school is shouting to us every five seconds. A lot of time I don't even bat an eye when I don't get the full 8  hours of sleep that high schoolers are supposed to have. Why? Because i'm lucky to even get 5 hours a night on a daily basis. I'm sure every highschooler with multiple AP classes can comply to that.
       What is all that for though? Why am i letting my health go down the drain every extra hour i stay up just to boost my GPA? Every teachers tells us to study and to get good grades but I don't think adults really understand what we are doing to our selves. I am not in an extra curricular activity so I can only imagine what it's like for people that are. I do understand that homework is a neccesity to learn the material taught to us by the school, but I think something needs to be done about the hours that students spend on their grades.
        We are not just numbers and statistics for the school. I feel like I am robbed of my high school experience every time i have to deny an invitation to a sporting event because I just have too much homework. There needs to be a compromise in some way so that students can enjoy life before college and stop focusing on what they think defines them: grades. I'm not saying to just stop trying but i would much rather enjoy myself in school now than when it gets even worse in college.
        That's another point. College. Do colleges even care about our GPA's? Actually some don't. I visited my dream school, Northwestern in Chicago and the first question that was asked by concerned parents was what GPA you needed to get into a top school. The answer? They don't care. The tour guides told us that every single school has a different grading system. Some are on a 10 point scale, some on 3 (like Kennedy), there's even a school in Colorado that goes by stars. Saying this, they explained that there is just no way that they could compare students all around the countries based on their GPA. What they do look at, though, is what you took advantage of in High school. Like did you challenge yourself and take that new AP course even though it mean you have to take an early bird class? Or did you not even try and only take 3 classes just to graduate? They look at your struggles and how you overcame them not just a silly little number that averages your grades.