Social media is a very rewarding place for those who don’t have the motivation to study. TikTok videos with inspirational quotes like “Obsession ALWAYS beats talent” and “Study until you can’t get it wrong” are convincing tactics when I need that little boost of motivation.
I won’t lie, life as an academic weapon looks glamorous and ideal. That old-money aesthetic mixed with music from the “Oppenheimer” movie truly makes me feel better about doing my math homework.
But what about the other videos promoting all-nighters and unhealthy meal choices?
Starting college, I was told to prepare to live off ramen and energy drinks when balancing school, work, social lives and personal health. Now, I’m in a friend group made up of different majors, but there’s one common variable — doing the most in order to be a successful student.
The University of Minnesota exempts students with a grade point average below 3.5 from graduating with honors. Mandatory introductory courses for first-years, such as CLA First-Year Experience I and CSE First-Year Experience, immediately prepare new students for the workload and expectations needed for future career-finding. In these classes, we are taught to write a resume, prepare for interviews and accumulate the perfect transcript.
On paper, college students are high-achieving and well-rounded. Behind the scenes, we are up every night until 3 a.m. or later, running on Celsius energy drinks and leftover pizza from a club event we attended earlier.
Ashleigh Brown, a first-year student at the University, found the academic-weapon lifestyle to consist of constant studying and having little to no life outside of that.
“I definitely felt the pressure just to do better, not for myself, but to also get into a good college,” Brown said. “Seeing your peers around you doing well in school and get good grades pushes you as well.”
There’s pressure to be the best — a mindset many parents implement in their children at a young age.
Jennifer Breheny Wallace, an award-winning journalist, wrote about how this anxiety in parents can stem from growing income inequalities and job market competitiveness. We all want the best for our children, but in this growing economy, it’s almost impossible to be the best.
This is where students suffer.
Lack of sleep and routine meals can throw off one’s circadian rhythm, or the changes in our physical and mental health that are heavily regulated by night and day, according to Her Campus. Drowsiness, poor coordination and difficulty focusing can occur when these rhythms fall out of balance.
The idea of academic success is skewed, and this is the result.
Liza Meredith, associate teaching professor in the department of psychology at the University, said having high performance and outcomes in a course is more important than high GPAs and class completions.
“Academic success seems like a straightforward concept, but I think it’s actually quite complicated,” Meredith said. “You can potentially have a high grade in a class without necessarily learning a lot in the class.”
Meredith added that she believes it’s unfair for professors and faculty to demand perfection and be inflexible with their workload. This also heavily depends on the class. Because of this, demanding change from the University would be hard. However, there are ways in which Meredith believes instructors and students can work better together.
For example, many classes at the University don’t have a late-work policy, meaning all assignments are due at the end of the semester. There are still schedules put in place to help students not cram everything at the end, but along with all of the other responsibilities we have, it’s a big help to have that leeway. Meredith said she doesn’t make assignments worth so much in case one is missed.
This is not to say that this grading structure works for everyone. Still, she would like to see other professors prioritizing students’ schedules over workload.
As a second-year student in pursuit of being an academic weapon, I’ve learned that no one is truly an academic weapon when all of our lives are unique and different from each other. I’ve befriended many students of all years and majors while at the University, and they each take on their academic journey differently.
It’s not recommended to skip or miss classes, cram last-minute studying, multitask beyond your ability or condone distractions. If you want to be your version of an academic weapon, skew it to your needs, schedule and limits.
Do your best. I promise it’s enough. You can only reap what you sow, not what someone else on social media tells you to.
“Your performance isn’t everything. You as a person matter more than any performance that you engage in,” Meredith said. “You don’t have to be perfect to have a good trajectory in life.”