The Price of Perfection

It’s the need to smile after a bad grade, to post the perfect photo, to win, to lead, to never mess up. Perfection isn’t just a goal, it's an expectation for many students.
Whether it's on the field, on the stage, or in the classroom, the pressure to be perfect follows students everywhere, pushing them to perform, impress, and never fall short.

“I absolutely feel the pressure in sports, and when I am called on in class, so basically all of the time,” explains Lexi Engle.

The constant pressure seems to accompany students everywhere. Whether that be on the sports field, in the classroom, or in their personal lives, the expectation of perfection can feel inescapable.

“In school it always feels like you have to be perfect, you have to get straight A’s. Your behavior has to be good, you have to do this,” comments Engle.

However, perfection can change depending on the activity or subject you're in.

“In sports it's a little different. There is a lot of pressure to PR (personal record) and put forth your best foot despite the grueling pain that distance running brings. It's such a mental game, especially when you are trying to push your body to keep up with someone,” further explains Greta Jones.

The pressure isn’t just put on in the classroom or on a sports team. Sometimes it can be individual people, groups of people, or just people as a whole.

“I think it's society. I think the pressure of the older generation is, like, ‘We grew up like this and your generation is ruining everything and don’t understand the things we had to go through,’ and that our generation is a menace to society,” comments Engle.

Engle isn’t the only one who believes society has applied this pressure. Some students feel the pressure is a bit more centered on certain figures in a person's life.

“I think teachers pressure the students because it seems like they have favorites based on how they treat certain students, which seems to be based on their grades,” explains Rodriguez.

Some students share Rodriguez's perspective, although others see a different side to it.

“Sometimes [the pressure of perfection is applied by teachers]. But for the most part I think it's unintentional. I mean, they already know the material and understand it pretty well, which is why I think they can get frustrated when students don't understand as well. Not saying that's an excuse, but it is an explanation for the annoyance,” advocates Jones.

However, people weren’t born knowing this pressure; the pressure was learned through experience.

“It really started in 7th grade. I didn't want to be seen as one of the ‘weird kids’ and my mom has always had really high expectations so a lot of the time I try to go above and beyond,” commented Rodriguez.

Although it may be personal for Rodriguez, for others it’s no one other than themselves.

“I’ve always been competitive. In academics and sports… I get disappointed in myself when I feel like I didn't do enough,” explains Jones.

Perfection is something that many students face daily. But, it is all about perspective.

“Perfection is relative in my opinion. Someone’s perfect is another’s failure. Perfection is achievable depending on your definition,” comments Jones.