Hi everyone! Welcome, or welcome back, to The Teen Safe Zone where it's safe for teens to be themselves! With the new school year coming up, I wanted to talk about the pressure of academic success and the fear of failing academically.
This is something I found myself struggling with especially since I entered high school two years ago. Whether you're being pressured by your parents or by yourself to be the "very best" in school, this is a toxic mindset that should be broken. Let's enter the upcoming school year with a positive, but realistic, mindset.
How This Mindset Comes In Place:
Many people are pressured academically by their parents or family. I've talked about this in a blog post before and that is that you're not your family expectations of you. Parents shouldn't strive for perfection because no one is capable of being "perfect". If you're a parent reading this, it's completely normal to want the best for your child, but you should also be encouraging and supportive of their own decisions.
Many people who are in this position feel trapped between what they want for themselves vs. what their parents want and often act out of fear of disappointing their parents. Some people are also pressured to "be the first" in their family to do something (ex. going to college, etc.) so they always find themselves living to prove a point. They aren't doing something because they're passionate about it, but rather because they feel obligated that they have to do it.
Example:
Someone might be the first person to go to college in their family. Because this is an important milestone, they might feel pressured that they have to set the standard and get into a prestigious university like the Ivy Leagues. They might not even notice it, but they fall into the habit of overworking themselves academically to make this come true, not realizing that they've already accomplished so much.
Others, like me, want to achieve the very best for ourselves but we do it in a not-so-healthy manner. I found myself stressing if I got anything under a solid A. I literally freaked out over getting an A- in psychology this past year. This toxic mindset made me completely look over all of the other things I've done academically. I realized at the end of the school year that I should change my mindset when regarding school and academics.
There are so many people out there who would admire our academic work, but we can't see that for ourselves due to this toxic mindset.
Failure Is Normal:
Learning is a process. Understanding coursework won't just come to you overnight. Failure is normal. It's part of the learning process and any process in general. We won't always do well on the first try or even the second try. With my psychology course, I wasn't the happiest when I got my final grade because I felt that it was too close to a B. But, towards the end of the school year, I remembered how much effort I had to put into that course and how difficult it was. Stop being your own worst critic. Appreciate the work you put into the course and understand that there's always next time.
My Teacher Once Said:
Good grades don't determine how smart a person is, it just represents how well a person is at test taking.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed today's post! If you all have any other comments on this post, make sure to become a member on this site by simply signing up and making an account to comment! If you want to contact me about anything, please visit the "Contact Us" page on this blog where we can privately talk! New posts every Sunday! - Lexi
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