Today, I came to the grand revelation that, sometimes, we as humans simply cannot measure up. You may be wondering, what wondrous occurrence sparked such an epiphany? To which I answer: a prepubescent boy.
Whilst attending one of my late afternoon lectures today, I found myself running later than usual and thus was forced to find an available seat in an unfamiliar part of the lecture hall. I slid quickly into an aisle seat, dragged out my laptop, and looked briefly to my right only to find a young boy, no more than fourteen years old, hurriedly taking notes next to me. I was struck with a pang of admittedly pathetic anxiety as an army of irrational thoughts flooded my mind: "This kid is a prodigy", "He is judging me for showing up late", "I bet he set the curve on the last midterm." Within two and a half seconds of catching sight of this student, I thought I had him all figured out and was comparing myself to see how I measured up to this "prodigy." It was not until a few hours after lecture as I found myself typing into the Google search bar, "Youngest student to attend UC Berkeley," that I realized: I was acting ridiculous.
At UC Berkeley, and I am sure most other colleges and universities nationwide, there is an inescapable culture of competition. Your peers are not your friends, but rather your rivals. College is a cutthroat environment. The only rule of the game is survival of the fittest, and by fittest I mean the student with the most extensive LinkedIn account. Everyone is vying for the same commodified spots in impacted majors, research facilities, internships, fellowships, and jobs. Is it any wonder that college students constantly compare themselves to one another?
I will be the first to admit that I find myself plagued daily by this inferiority complex. The successes of others are quite literally impossible to escape in a college environment. Even an act as innocent as studying in a cafe inevitably leads to insecurity, as on any given day I may encounter one student working on a senior thesis, another in the midst of an intensive job interview, and a third excitedly chattering about a new research opportunity. Higher education is intended to sharpen and refine your skills, but in this culture of competition it is simply a breeding ground for insecurity.
College should be a time for academic experimentation and exploring fields you never knew existed; however, the incessant feeling of inadequacy clouds the true purpose of higher education. No matter how many academic texts you read, midterms you take, essays you write, or problem sets you turn in, it seems as though it is never enough. Today's college students suffer from inescapable guilt for doing anything outside of the realm of education. Students sacrifice social plans, sleep, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle in the pursuit of academic perfection. It would be near impossible to find a college student who has not, at some point, felt as though he or she is not doing enough.
And these fears are not irrational. With the increasingly competitive job market, college students today have been indoctrinated with the notion that in order to achieve a stable and respectable job, they must be near perfection with an overflowing rƩsumƩ. Employers today not only expect students to be experts in their chosen fields of study, but also to have dipped their toes in numerous other disciplines. A bachelor's degree is no longer viewed as a prized achievement, but rather an entry-level education.
So what are we over-worked, over-scheduled, and flat out over-it college students supposed to do? With my many years as a devout perfectionist, I prescribe a heavy dose of taking the competition with a grain of salt. Just as we choose to only publish the best life events, videos, and photos on social media, so do we boast about the best academic and professional achievements. No one is going to brag about how many job denials they got before that one company said yes or admit that they are involved in so many clubs simply to plump their rƩsumƩ. Most LinkedIn profiles (yes, including mine) are overflowing with exaggeration and power words and phrases to attract employers. So allow yourself to take that nap, go to that party, or just take the time for yourself to exhale, because no one is as good as they look on paper. The bar is only as high as you choose to set it. Don't let anyone else define your success.
