Surviving school with good grades?

[panicnhysteria]

As people may surely know – they have lived it, they are living it or they will soon – schools are full of stressful situations and obligations that, as rightful students, we have to accomplish in order to get decent grades and a good chance at the always uncertain future. However, there is a thin line between surviving school and getting good grades in school. Because of this, I will discuss the advantages and damages in trying both school-styles.

I’ll start talking about surviving school. What do I mean by this? Simply put, to make your way through academic life with a passing – but not great – grade, a considerably normal social life and a good physical and psychological health. In order to do so, I consider the main factor to be stability. To be aware of what you can and can't do. People know that they need to lack in certain aspects in order to get better in others; because of this, people need to find their own kind of balance between school, people and themselves to work properly. I managed to do this a few years ago, and I can say it was one of the best "eras" of my life. Sadly, I had to change said lifestyle because of a scholarship and demanding parents.

Now we'll move to the part of the academic population whose main goal is to achieve the best scores in basically everything. Not because of bragging rights, but to have better chances at life. I know it is possible to be a great student and a healthy human being, this article is focused mainly on the middle and the extreme specters there are to going through school. That said, wanting to have the best grades is likely to take its toll on your health, whether you want it or not. You might lose sleeping hours to study for that exam you MUST get an A in. You might forget to eat because you were busy making your homework look perfect. You might feel anxious, angry, stressed and/or depressed when something is threatening that high stability you're aiming for. I have also lived through this. I'll explain now.

Since I was a child, my mum always bragged about my intelligence because, being honest, I never really developed a personality until I was way older. My main goals in life then were to arrive home, do my homework with zero mistakes, watch a bit of television and then play around with dolls, board games, watch horror movies at night when I was supposed to be sleeping. The few friends I had were more company than anything, I didn't have things I liked or disliked. I had no opinion of my own, it was always "yes" or "whatever my mum says" and this carried on until I was close to 17 years old. Even now, sometimes I feel like I can't speak for myself, but I'm dealing with it.

Continuing, this condition made my grades ridiculously high. I managed to maintain an average grade of 10 (in the 0-10 scale) until I was fifteen years old. I was lucky enough to receive a big scholarship because of it, and what was so natural to me (going to school, doing homework, enjoying my classes) suddenly became an obligation, and that's where everything went wrong. For you see, the scholarship requires an average grade of 9 or more. Because of this, from that moment, every 8 I got received a disappointed look from my mother and a long talk about appreciating the opportunities we get in life (those low grades didn't affect my average grade that much, mind you). And the pressure made everything go to hell.

I started having sleepless nights thinking about getting the perfect grade. I started crying when I felt like I couldn't do my schoolwork good enough. I started crying when I saw all my classmates growing up, going up while I was stuck trying to satisfy the expectations people had of me. I started crying when I got a low-ish grade and I was so afraid of telling my mother about it. The responsibility messed with my head, to the point that I decided that no matter how good the scholarship was, I would be damn glad to get rid of it, and face the consequences. This brings me to the other extreme of the line.

Not giving a shit about school has happened to all of us, I'm sure. Either in a moment of frustration after trying so much or a simple indifference about the significance of grades in your life. We've all thought "you know, if I fail this subject, whatever" (this may happen more when we're younger, as failing a subject in university gets you in some deep shit). This is really bad for you in an academic and personal aspect. For example, what if you have the potential to be a really successful person and a low grade closes the door on the chance you were looking for? Or what if you find your true passion (either in school or outside of it) and a decent grade was the key to achieve what you wanted? Whatever the case, we may reach this low point, but we must find a way to recover, to do as much as we can without forgetting to live and hope for the best, knowing how much we are capable of.

To finish this, I'd like to add that, having experienced the things I'm trying to explain, I find school a touchy subject, since people may react badly if you care too much, or none at all, about it. However, I would like to know your opinion on the subject. Let's say... in high school, if you already experienced that, or if you're living it right now. How are you dealing? How easy or difficult it is for you to find that balance? What obstacles have you found? I would like to know, really. I love discussing this subjects, even if we may agree or disagree on opinions. And I hope whoever read this to the very end enjoyed it... or at least made them think for a while, refuting/agreeing to all I was saying. Anyway, let me know.