In the age of social media giants like Snapchat and Instagram, the pressure to be perfect looms large. Many people see perfectionism as a big part of their life due to what they see on these social media platforms.
Students in high school and even younger deal with perfectionism in sports, academics and even just life.
The pressure to perform at a high level in academics, affects students in a negative way.
“In academics perfection definitely affects me negatively, because it pressures me to do well,” said sophomore Tess Robertson.
School can feel like a place where only perfectionism will get you anywhere.
On a test, a 100% is amazing and a 90% can be frowned upon by parents and students because of the pressure to constantly achieve high grades. I myself have cried over grades that are any lower than 95% throughout my career as a student.
Why is there so much pressure to be the best all the time?
Being the best all the time does not dictate your self worth. It does not make our decisions for us and it should not be as big of a deal as it is.
In sports, you must be the best or leave. People these days are even pushed out of a sport they love because they are simply just “not good enough.”
Abby Mutch, a student athlete, talks about the standards set for herself and others in a sport as well as performing well in school.
“I think the pressure of perfection impacts me in sports and academics because of the high standards we set for ourselves as scholar athletes. I always feel like I have the best of both worlds but in reality it’s more challenging than people realize.”
As a student athlete myself, I feel it is important to spread light on this subject and help people realize that it is stressful to constantly strive for perfection. Especially for someone who everyone sees as a perfect student. There is pressure to keep up a facade that everything is alright while students are drowning in work.
Social media Influencers all over the internet also make unrealistic standards of life.
Although it is their job to influence people to want the“perfect” lifestyle, home decor, workouts or beauty standards, we are in need of more down to earth influencers showing that real life is okay.
Even in my life I have a hard time watching videos with girls my age and older who seem to have their lives together. It seems like all these girls know what to do, while I am just along for the ride of my own life.
