Our society has come so far in terms of education. From a time when only the elite could ever think of literacy, we have come to a point where it is strange to find someone who has not been to school. It’s an incredible progression, truly, but all good comes with something worse. In this case, it is academic validation, something many of us don’t know the meaning of.
With education becoming the forefront of society, it has become the forefront of many of our lives as well. For some of us, it means getting past college to a good job. For others, it is the basis of our entire self-image. But what is the meaning of academic validation, and what are the reasons for this curse?
Reason #1 : Your Parents
Parents have such a large impact on our views and beliefs, throughout our lives, and it’s safe to say they may have impacted your view on your academics. Many of our parents are very strict and particular about grades. They want you to get straight A’s, and if you don’t you get punished.
Eventually, all that gets in your head, and becomes what you see. Because your parents have drilled the importance of grades into your head, basing your entire value as a child on it, you have begun to believe it yourself. Instead of just your parents ridiculing your bad grades, or accepting only the good ones, you are doing it to yourself. You see a good grade, and expect that and more, and once that bad grade comes along, you beat yourself over it.
That’s when it truly becomes academic validation. It’s no longer your parents validating you on it, it’s you actively seeking that validation because you have it defining your self-worth.
Reason #2 : Your School Environment
The place you do your learning also greatly impacts your views on it, and it might also be a reason for your academic validation. Let me explain it a little more.
Your schools might be very competitive, in terms of academics. They always have high standardized test scores, numerous difficult courses, and very close GPAs competing for valedictorian. This kind of school emphasized outstanding grades on their students, and you might be one of them. Being in a school that values itself on its students academic achievements will automatically make you feel that you have to do the same.
It’s not just the school itself, but also the people in it. Teachers might pressurize their students to do well unknowingly when they explain tests and scores, or might even knowingly demean students who don’t perform as well.
But the people with the most impact will be your peers. When your peers also struggle with academic validation, they’ll reflect it onto you, whether they want to or not. The constant “how did you do on your test” or “my grades are so bad” when there’s just a B+ get to you soon. You’ll start thinking the way they do, thinking that the few B+’s you also have are failing grades. When your peers show so much importance to grades, pressurizing themselves into being perfect, and are also very explicit with it, it gets to your head as well. You’ll start feeling like your value is based on your grades as well, and you need to be amazing in it all to ever be considered good.
Reason #3 : Lack of Other Hobbies
Hey, if you have nothing but academics in your life, then you really can’t help but value yourself on it. With nothing else in your life to enjoy, or have any achievements in, the only thing you have left is school.
When you have other hobbies and activities, you can spread your effort across all of them. Each singular activity won’t encompass your entire life, and you won’t feel as much of a need to place your entire self-value in any of them. However, all that effort concentrated in just your academics, it does become your whole value and worth as a person, because you have nothing else to represent you.
How do you fix this? It’s pretty simple. Find a hobby, anything you can do and thoroughly enjoy doing. It can be community service at your local library, writing poems and short stories, or a small YouTube channel for a topic of your interest. Any initiative you can take that peaks your interest, and is something you can care about. It’s something that’ll take the load of effort off your academics to share it with something else.
Reason #4 : An Unstable Life
This is an unfortunate reason, and not one you can control, but a very real one nevertheless. Many students grow up in unstable households, where money might be tight and the struggle is much more than it might be for their peers. When you’re in such a position, it’s pretty reasonable for you to rely on your academics for your entire life and identity, because that is what it seems to be.
In fact, in a study comparing socioeconomic status to well-being before exams, it was found that students whose background was of lower socioeconomic status experienced far high levels of stress prior to an exam. While this is not directly related to academic validation, it just goes to show how much more stress you face with the same exams when you come from a less fortunate background. It is much harder to feel “safe” in failing when you don’t have the stability to guarantee an education, even without success.
If you are one of these students, it’s okay. You have the right ideas in mind. And education is incredibly important for anyone’s success in life, especially for people in your position. Just remember, don’t make it take over your mind and your life. Academic validation will always be a struggle, with you attaching the entirety of your self-value to academics, and even if it allows you to succeed in school, it’ll still hurt you. If you need help, check out our article on how to overcome academic validation, so you can do it for yourself in 4 simple steps!
Reason #5 : Fear for the Future
The truth is, our future does depend on the education we get now, in high school. It can determine the colleges you go to, and the ones you don’t, the jobs you get, and even the overall satisfaction with your life. It’s completely understandable to be so dependent on your academic capabilities for validation and self-worth when your entire livelihood can depend on it.
Do, if you’re scared for your future, don’t worry. Do well in school, but don’t let it be your entire life. Your future can be altered by the path you take in your education. But a few bad grades isn’t an end all be all. It’s just the experience of life, and as long as you try, you will be successful.
Conclusion
Academic validation is a reality for many students across the globe. And it’s most definitely not a good thing. While school and education is incredibly important for all of our success, being the best is not what defines us. We collectively need to find value in ourselves outside of academics while still valuing education as a whole. It’s the first step to fixing our relationship with education for a healthier and happier life in the future and generations to come.
