Many students excel in school activities, sports, and academics. Teachers and peers often see them as role models. However, the pressure they put on themself to live up to those expectations can turn around and cause stress, anxiety, and mental health struggles.
“Pressure to be perfect is people challenging you and you challenging yourself to move on to the new expectation,” said Senior Lucas Hill
Senior Lucas Hill participates in the CNA program, and he participates in sports, mainly football and soccer, such as UIL and several school clubs. Lucas pressures himself to have good grades, but he deals with it by having a good schedule and sticking to it the best he can. He believes students shouldn’t pressure themselves to be perfect because nobody is perfect. If you try to pressure yourself to be perfect and it doesn’t go your way, you may think you are not good enough. Therefore, it’s best to have realistic expectations.
“Pressure to be perfect is the mindset you have that you can’t make mistakes and everything has to be on the top of the line and nothing to go wrong,” said Senior Payton Mathison
Senior Payton Mathison participates in FFA. She serves as a student council officer, class officer, and is involved in UIL, FCA, LDE, CDE, SDE, and HBNN. Additionally, she’s an honor student and participates in tennis and cheerleading. Payton started helping herself since 8th grade to have at least a 96 in class, and it can be challenging with honors classes, and you can struggle with it, Peyton struggles with perfection with her grades because college is really important to her, and holding herself to a high standard of her grades is something that she has done her whole life, and the way she helped herself with it is by making sure she’s putting her best effort. Payton thinks that it’s important for students to pressure themselves to excel in certain things, but perfection shouldn’t be a goal because nobody is perfect. But a little pressure on yourself can help you succeed in life more than those who don’t.
Many students feel like their grades define their worth or future. Whether it’s pressure from parents, teachers, or themselves, the idea that a single number can determine success creates a lot of stress, even though grades cannot define who a person really is.
“Pressure to be perfect is a vague term because no one can ever be perfect. You can have pressure to do your best and strive to be the best, but ultimately no one will ever be perfect, only God is perfectly made,” said Sophomore Abby Ressler
Sophomore Abby Ressler participates in FFA, where she serves as the chapter’s vice president. She competes in LDE, CDE, and SDE contests and shows commercial steers at the San Antonio and Houston Livestock Shows. She is part of HBNN, where she serves as one of the co-anchors in the bi-weekly broadcast, Have Your Herd. She also participates in the athletics program, playing soccer in the spring and being a varsity cheerleader. Abby pressures herself to have good grades and do well in school, but she deals with the pressure by slowing down, working on her time management, and praying for clarity as well as peace from the anxiety that school can cause. Inevitably, your top tier students, or honors students, will always have pressure to do their best and become top of their class, but she believes that as long as they learn to deal with the pressure and stress correctly, the desire to be the best will lead to their success.
According to the HHS counselor, the most effective way to teach students how to balance their schoolwork is to be organized. This can be either having a paper plan or an online planner, where all deadlines and activities are listed. Breaking down tasks into ones that can take them one day at a time is the best way to battle mental health. Students must understand that nobody is perfect and should always strive to do their best. That’s the constant struggle in school and out of school to just understand that no one is perfect, it’s okay to make mistakes because it would make you better in the future.
Perfectionism is impossible; while academic achievement is important, mental health should come first. Students need to understand that their value isn’t defined by their GPA or grades. Learning, making mistakes, and trusting the progress are what truly matter.
