Academic validation: it isn’t everything

Talking about the dangers of sacrificing mental health for grades and validation

Abigail Cavizo / Assistant Social Media Manager / The USD Vista

In the “go-go-go” life of a college student, unplanned time off of school could be catastrophic–especially if it’s for multiple days. With last year being online, the screen confined us physically, but also mentally. I didn’t feel the extra pressure to prove myself to authority figures past the bare minimum required to get an A. Participation didn’t seem like a necessity. 

Now, as most of us haven’t been in a “real” classroom since the beginning of 2020, we have to re-learn proper classroom etiquette and the competitiveness to be the best. For first-year students, they have to handle an unfamiliar environment. For sophomores, it’s their first time in person and maybe even their first time on campus (It’s freshman year part two: the sequel no one asked for). For juniors and seniors, they have to make the alternating adjustment from in-person to online, then back to in-person amidst the most crucial years of their college experience. 

After all that time off, it now feels almost illegal to miss just one day of school, even if it’s from an uncontrollable illness or injury. Especially with the privilege of in-person classes, it’s every overachiever’s worst nightmare. 

Then suddenly, it happened to me. At the worst time possible in the height of my stress, I found out I had a concussion. My fast-paced college life was put on pause, forcing me to do something I hadn’t done since the beginning of the semester: rest. 

In the darkness, I couldn’t even look at a screen, meaning I was unable to go to the classes my professors offered on Zoom. I could only wallow in my own self-pity; but, something as uncontrollable as a concussion should not have been a reason for me to be mad at myself. 

During this dreadful week of resting, I had an important conversation with my roommates: we put so much pressure on ourselves to receive positive reinforcement from authority. This conversation sparked my question: is the need for academic validation a driving force in why we want to do well in school? I think, yes. For college students, there is an innate desire to be academically validated. 

For me, this validation motivates me to get through work and school. It’s an intoxicating feeling– being told by the person in charge of you that you’re doing well. It’s a high, the adrenaline rush that’ll never stop giving, as long as I’m the best at what I do. While academic validation can be a great motivator to begin with, it’s not sustainable enough to keep anyone going through four years of college. The well of compliments will always run dry. What happens when I don’t perform adequately because I don’t have the motivation to pull myself back up? It’s mentally exhausting. 

The smartest and most successful people are placed at the top of the  food chain, heralded as the “goal in life.” However, they’re not untouchable. They’re like us, chasing the never-ending high of validation. It’s a complex relationship between self-image and societal standards. If society puts so much value on our grades to achieve the success that I can ride until my death bed, doing bad in school or missing a couple days will push me into a downward spiral. Questions of doubt such as, “Am I good enough to make it?” will cloud the mind until eventually a mental storm forms, haunting my every move. 

A college student’s need for academic validation from professors further deepens when it’s a professor in their major. That professor is a professional in that field, so of course, we’re going to work ten times harder for their validation –  in our world, this person is the proverbial standard. We want this specific professor to give us a golden ticket saying “Hey, you’re good enough for this world too.” How can I dissipate the storm of doubt? 

I’m not saying that professors shouldn’t give any type of critique. That would be more harmful. Instead, we need to switch our perspectives a bit. Our self-worth is more than just the aggregate of other peoples’ opinions of us, even if it is the validation of a respected superior. Positive feedback shouldn’t be the sole reason I want to succeed, and negative feedback should not tear me down. Instead, it is meant to build me up because with every “negative” critique, I can apply it to myself and become a stronger intellectual. 

We’re all our own worst critics. I don’t want the fear of failure to live inside me for the rest of my college career and life beyond. My forced time off school might’ve been the best thing that could have happened to me. If you told me that a week and a half ago, I would highly disagree, but with nothing to do but sit in a dark room, I was forced to reevaluate my priorities. I almost forgot how much I genuinely love to learn. 

In the “go-go-go” of college, I almost forgot the reason why I’m here – to make a difference in my community. Being validated alone should not be a reason for me to work hard. This system of relying on praise for all the work we do creates a negative feedback loop that will always lead to burnout. I do not want to sacrifice my mental health for academic validation and you shouldn’t either.