At the beginning of every semester, Elon University students tell themselves that this is the semester they’re going to do it all. They’re going to get ahead of the class reading schedule by going to the library every day. Make Dean’s list. They’re going to hit the gym three to four times a week, get a job and maintain the most active social life possible. All of this, while still getting the recommended eight hours of sleep every night.
Fast forward a few weeks, and most students would agree that the optimism and self-starter attitude that had propelled them this far into the semester has already run out. It was nothing but an illusion, a temporary blessing in disguise, for a more sobering reality, one that we as Elon students would just as soon avoid than face: that once again, we have bitten off more than we can chew.
But does the college atmosphere of academic and extracurricular intensity lead us to create unrealistic expectations for ourselves, encouraging us to take on more than is actually attainable? Or are students today simply expecting too much from themselves? We say both.
As Elon students, we are naturally inclined to assume that we are capable of doing more than we actually are. Extra credit hours, an on-campus job, vice-president of (insert organization here)- these are the most common reasons Elon students stay busy. The laundry list of goals and resolutions that we commit ourselves to achieving every semester are often created with the idealized concept of “over-achievement” in mind. With so many of our classmates actively creating bright futures for themselves beyond Elon, the pressure to hold up to the stereotypical “overachieving” standards that they set is palpable.
But students today need to remember that achievement should be considered a personal reflection. Achievement is commendable at any level, and the standard of “overachievement” is one that very few people are able to constantly uphold.
And yet, some students make the conscious choice to over-commit themselves, to push themselves farther than they are sure they can go, a pre-cursor for the demands of the real world. They routinely test their ability to rise to the occasion while balancing other responsibilities. But are these students trying to test their ability to rise to the occasion, or are they creating too many occasions that they must rise to?
Despite our best efforts and all the positivity we can muster, we often find ourselves struggling to even keep up with half of the things that we originally set out to do. Elon students are certainly no strangers to setting unrealistic expectations for themselves, believing that through sheer force of will they will be able to achieve everything they set their minds to. And while this is a commendable attitude to have, students need to realize that overextending oneself just to satisfy the unrealistic expectations they have set for themselves is likely to do more harm than good in the end.