Gauri Chhabra
Bliss was in that dawn to be alive But to be young was very Heaven So said the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth while talking about the French Revolution.
This is very true for the young generation who is lucky to be born and being young and full of energy in the modern era. The young generation is born with technology, the latest amenities and the facilities at just a click away. Yes? Not quite. One of the side effects of the modern era is – stress. The modernization and the fierce competition has brought with it the stress and a burning desire to excel- at any cost. A slight failure is synonymous of inability and incompetence- a trigger to suicide.
Cause of stress:
One of the reasons for stress for the youth is increasing pressure to excel – whether in classroom, examination room or the board room. While some amount of stress is essential and forward pushing, beyond a certain limit- it may seethe and erupt like a volcano.
Here, we talk about the stress that we are facing today. Stress of exams. The difference between stress due to competition and stress due to academics-in-general is to be understood, and handled properly. If we do not understand this difference and keep criticizing the education pattern, we are only going to reduce the quality of education in our top institutions, without improving the experience of our students, and without making any dent towards solving the problem of excessive stress. Instead of changing the system, let us change ourselves.
The problem of plenty
The most common reasons of stress are the undue focus of parents on marks, the constant push towards academic excellence – all this is an effort to give their kids a leg-up in the college admissions.The stress levels are relatively higher among kids of the upper middle class families as these parents want their wards to be’ know it all’- to be good in academics, sports, co- curricular activities everything rolled into one.There is a mounting pressure for high-octane achievement. The children of affluent parents are expected to excel at school and in multiple other levels and also in their social lives.
Here are some common myths that you need to shelve if you wish to overcome stress.
College and professional success are directly proportional:
The main cause of stress is-“If I do not get a good score, I will not get admission to a top college, If I do not get admission to a top college, I do not get a good placement”. This is a simple linear approach we all follow. Well it may hold true in most of the cases as colleges admit based on some criterion – marks.
But I would request you to follow successful people and their growth trajectory. Marks may lead to a good college, but professionally successful people need another set of skills- interpersonal, conflict management, negotiation- which is a different ball game altogether. When you reach the middle of your career the college occupies less space in your employer’s mind- it is your EQ that matters and believe me it has nothing to do with your marks.Research proves this. One noted study published in 2013 found that by the time they reached their 30s, top-performing high-school students who were admitted to both top league and middle-ranking colleges earned about the same salaries, regardless of which institute they attended.
So, whereas getting good grades should be your aim but undue stressing over it is not worth its while. Take life as a whole…
A college is as good as its ranking is:
Most of you would have zeroed in on a college where you would seek admission to. You would have looked at its rankings and placement record of previous years. With no ill feeling towards the overall rankings and ratings, let me tell you the rankings are a sum total of many things- college infrastructure, the quality of faculty, the number of Ph.D’s, the placement record, the alumni rating and the like. In certain cases any or all of these may be window dressed. There are ways to get away with grade inflation, flimsy educational standards and wayward spending – especially on administrative and building costs that grow faster than funds spent on teaching.
Therefore, shelve this myth and aim for a college that suits your needs- a place where you would be comfortable.
Academic education is equal to jobs:
Most of the stress is due to the fact that we have been brought up with the belief that we need to get degrees to get jobs. While it may hold true, there is an element of truth also in the fact that we live in an age of academic inflation of too many degrees chasing too few jobs.
Many of the heroes that we worship and idolize have been college-drop-outs-come-billionaires Mark Zuckerbergs, Michael Dells, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of the world. And while these tech and business geniuses are anomalies, it is true our increasingly service-based economy has outgrown the traditional academic model and flattened the world. While parents brainstorm to land their over-educated wards out of their childhood bedrooms and into adulthood, a recent report predicts that a third of new jobs expected to be created in India by 2020 will only require an associate’s degree or certificate.
Most of the companies these days are looking for diploma holders and skilled personnel rather than lofty degree holders who come with a ‘price tag’.
So, do your best and come out of the stress zone.
Seriousness leads to success:
I have seen parents complaining- “My son is not at all serious about studies. God knows what he will do in his exams”. We have often associated success with our seriousness towards studies. Who said if you are eating well, socializing and leading a normal life, you are not serious. Undue seriousness leads to worry, loss of appetite and confusion during the exams.
Instead of worrying yourself to death as to what would happen, give yourself a pep talk: While it may sound corny, if you can control your inner voice, you will be surprised at how much your attitudes change. When you start to worry, or tell yourself themselves; “This is just too hard!”Replace the negative inner dialogue with something positive like “Yes, I can do this. It’s easy!”By taking control of their study schedule, you can significantly reduce exam stress. Controlling their thought process and inner dialogue, taking a moment to breathe and getting enough sleep are the keys to a stress-free exam period.
Failure means lack of competence:
Our schools and colleges are so busy labelling students into ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ category that failure in any form is often scorned at and is considered as a sign of incompetence. The pressure to stand first is so great that failures lead to suicides and unnecessary comparisons between students and siblings. A years ago, I was reading through the life story of a sitting judge of the Madras high court who said that he had failed in five examinations but became a judge because he never gave up.
Failure is a relative term not an absolute one. For a student who had expected 95% marks scoring 93% can be a failure. Now, a student who scores 93% instead of 95%, is not incompetent. There may be several reasons for this slight slip. So, if you fail, never give up because F.A.I.L means ‘First Attempt in Learning’- says APJ Abdul Kalam.
Therefore, brace yourself, not only for a life of tests but for the TEST OF LIFE.
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