Every student learns at their own pace throughout the entire educational experience. For some, this means looking over material once and being good for the upcoming test that following week. For others, studying could be making a hundred flashcards two weeks before the test and still taking the entire hour to complete the assessment. And as great as it was to get good grades after these challenging tests, there were days that a would get a couple of bad ones.
This usually took a huge toll on me, mostly because I knew I was disappointing those around me. But it wasn't until I got to college that I started to be content with the average grade. Now don't get me wrong, I loved being a straight A student and I still strive to be as I finish my college experience, but my high school education had taught me the most valuable lesson I could take with me to college. My mental health was more important than a grade on a report card.
There is so much stress from day one of a child's educational experience to be the best that they can be. You had special bulletin boards in kindergarten that displayed the "gold star" artwork. Middle school they gave out awards for different achievements. Even high school, students fought at the end of the year to see who's final numbers would make them valedictorian.
But what if someone is trying their best, and that best is a C grade. Most of the time that particular student is ridden off as "being lazy," or "they can try harder." But what happens when these students "try harder?" They end stressing themselves out even more than they already were before. One of the biggest jokes for a college student is that they are constantly over exhausted, starving, and overly depressed. Most laugh these stereotypes off but they are the dark reality most students go through just to excel in their classes.
Students believe in our society today that the only way they will manage to pass their studies is to work themselves to exhaustion. But this could not be farthest from the truth. If students continue to work themselves this hard just for a good grade, they are going to work themselves into exhaustion which will only make their work worse than before. Students need to take breaks and take their time when it comes to completing their assessments. If this means spending an extra semester or even a year, you should never feel ashamed to take your time.
Always make sure either you or the students in your life are taking the time when needed to keep themselves in the right headspace. Schoolwork will never be worth risking your mental health. You will always have more time to complete classes, study for a test, or get your degree. It is much harder to treat your mental health than it is to slow down your studies. The school will always be there at the end of the day, and that is the most important thing to remember.