What happens when you take all the overachievers from high school ““ the valedictorians, the Associated Student Body presidents, the Junior Statesmen of America ““ and smash them together into a jumbled mix of go-getters, bursting the seams of the Bruin bubble?
You create a student body that, indeed, maintains high academic standards and campus-oriented achievements, but you also stifle creativity and individuality.
This generates an unattainable standard for success that is, overall, exhausting and uninteresting.
It’s easy to see where this sense of success-oriented obligation can stem from. For the past few years, at least half of the admitted UCLA freshmen have maintained a 4.0 or above GPA and the competition to get into a decent post-graduate professional school can put Bruins into overdrive.
“Beyond the expectation of earning high grades, there are additional expectations,” said fourth-year psychology and pre-law student Tim Beers. “We (students) take it upon ourselves to actively develop our own professionalism through student organizations, jobs and internships.”
Elizabeth Gong-Guy, director of Student Psychological Services, explained to the Daily Bruin last week that the need to succeed is often formulated by outside influences ““ this can include everything from parental pressure to the accomplishments of one’s peers.
And aside from the obvious psychological and health-related harms that come with spreading oneself too thin ““ stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation ““ originality and student enthusiasm take a plunge.
It seems as though overachieving isn’t enough to highlight anyone as an outstanding candidate for professional schools, or even to boost a high school student for college acceptance.
“Benchmarks that used to set a student apart during my day, for instance 100 volunteering hours during high school, are now considered average fare for anyone interested in undergraduate education,” said fourth-year psychobiology and pre-med student Neil Maluste.
We’re constantly bombarded by stories of heroic endeavors and flashy test scores ““ remember the kid who built a shelter for refugees and still pulled off a 45 on his MCAT? ““ so that these higher-education fairy tales leave us bored and jaded.
If every ambitious Bruin managed to pull off straight As, maintain officer positions in a plethora of student groups, and seamlessly study for the Graduate Record Examinations, well, where exactly is the novelty?
One resume bleeds into the next, and students simply jump on the bandwagon for whatever club or class would reap the greatest benefits at the end of their four-year term.
“Students in high school, as well as those in college, are increasingly forced to sacrifice the things that they are really interested in because of the fear that schools and companies do not find it competitive,” said fourth-year global studies and pre-law student Adrian Firmansyah.
This drive toward academic and vocational acceptance infiltrates our society at a young age and is witnessed by the impressive high school repertoires students now flaunt.
Second-year comparative literature student Danae Paterson explained how her high school extracurricular activities involved membership on two sports teams, performance in 10 productions from her school’s drama department, as well as playing musical instruments in marching band, orchestra and jazz band.
While Paterson’s list is extraordinary and intimidating to the average high school student or incoming freshman, it is nothing short of what’s expected at a well-renowned research institution like UCLA.
Paterson acknowledged the high stress involved in applying to college and post-graduate schools, alluding to what this may mean for future generations.
“This intense competitiveness sets the standard very high for future generations,” she said. “As college was much less competitive for our parents than it is for us, so will it be similarly more difficult for the next generation.”
Perhaps it’s time UCLA students establish a new standard of achievement ““ one that involves diversity of interest as well as self-motivated academic achievement (remember how it felt to take a class you were actually interested in?).
As much as we all appreciate the shining beacons of overachievement success, we all need a dose of reality that breaks the limits of UCLA’s research facilities, libraries and campus clubs.
Because at least ““ from what I remember ““ there was a sound reason I chose to join the Bruin family. But spending all my time running from a club meeting to an internship interview to studying in Powell library does not give me one free second to realize or enjoy it.
Send resumes to Chung at lchung@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.