Blog Post #2 – Separating the student from the person: Why is Academic Validation so Sought After, and For More Reasons Than Just To Pursue Higher Education?

I am looking forward to exploring this very applicable topic in the realm of student health and well-being. This exploration is conducted to provide general answers to a phenomenon that every high-achieving student has experienced at some point along their educational journey.

Research Step 1 – The Role of the Parent: What role does validation in familiar relationships (ie. parental pressure and validation) play in creating a high achieving student?

The fact that getting admitted to university has progressively become more difficult for the average student has contributed to one of the factors playing into the ever-increasing desire to achieve academic superiority. However, the root cause comes from a plethora of factors. This question aims to explore the obvious idea that external pressures from parents is the main contributor of students studying themselves into the ground. Does familiar pressure always lead to a high-achieving child? And how do the people in power play into society’s game of keeping everyone employable rather than educated for the sake of obtaining useful-to-life knowledge?

Research Step 2 – How does the current state of the economy extend the pressure put on students to achieve high grades, get a decent job, and just make money to enough to survive? Is capitalism to blame?

The current state of the economy is a factor playing into the affordability crisis on both a national and international level. Additionally, the all-too-common 9-5 corporate lifestyle is seen as the “standard” occupation and way of life nowadays. If this career encompasses the standard in terms of work-life balance, something many are put through the educational pipeline to ‘success’ for the sake of achieving, why is there such a looming stress around achieving A’s in every class? Therefore, this predicament is bound to cause negative health outcomes due to the various stressors involved with never being able to take breaks. What can the general population of students do to prioritize their health and learn for the sake of becoming an educated individual rather than simply an employable number for a major corporation to run dry?

Research Step 3 – How does academic validation help one achieve a high ego and sense of self? What is the phenomenon that states the superiority one feels when scoring higher than a peer on a standardized test? Will this matter in the real world?

From the major deal of superiority complex to the feeling of being small when not doing well in a class, academics are a complex part of young peoples’ lives. Nonetheless, is there a method we can implement to take the pressures of achieving a certain grade away without contributing to a decline in the efforts put forward by students amidst their studies? Perhaps the perfect system is no grades at all? However the proficiency scale has been proved to be deficient. Misguided interpretations of what it is to learn and retain information have been bred by the education system. Its entire aim is to create the perfect employee, and increasing one’s ego and sense of self is a surefire way of improving one’s will to learn. Does this fact point to capitalism as the main driver of motivation, with students associating monetary goods with happiness? How can we as a society boost each other’s self esteem’ more frequently, and in a way that ensures that one’s motivation is here to last for the long run?