#academic pressure

[puffycinnabunny]

How to cope with a bad grade (or a grade worse than your expectations)

Hello hello,

Cinna here! I am a third-year neural science major, so, needless to say, I had my share of academic failures. I am sure there are some people who managed to finish college with perfect grades, but, trust me, there aren't as many as you think. It's human to make mistakes! But it's also OK to be upset about your mistakes. Your value is not determined by your grades! Regardless, here are some tips and tricks to get things going after a big whoopsie daisy.

Give yourself some time to process: Does this mean crying? maybe. Blankly staring at a wall? Also possible. Let it sink in. This step can take a long time, don't feel guilty about the time spent. As I said, grades don't define you, and it is not the end of the world. BUT your feelings are valid! You are allowed to feel upset or even disappointed. Give yourself some time to do that but don't let your feelings about the situation define your feelings about yourself <3

Get a treat: Yeah yeah, so you messed up. But I usually allow myself some escapism before getting back on track. Watch an episode you have been waiting to watch after the exams. Get a cookie. Take a nap. Do SOMETHING that makes you secrete some serotonin.

Check your exam: Make sure to learn what you got wrong. It may feel like it is too late now, but it is NOT! Go speak to your TA or professor and learn what went wrong and why. This might be very valuable for the next exams! It also allows the teaching staff to see you are TRYING to improve. This can be a game changer for the final grade when they consider performance grades or if you ask for a recommendation letter.

Game plan: It happened. You faced it, you asked for help, and now it's time to plan how to improve. You don't have to follow each and every step but sketch out things to review and when. This will make you state your intention. Sometimes declaring you are gonna do something is more powerful than you think. It will also help you feel less overwhelmed when you are studying for the next exams.

The redemption arc: Be easy on yourself. A healthy amount of regret can push you forward, but don't let it burn you out. This is a marathon! If you are a stem student like me, chances are you have MANY midterms (too many, absolutely too many). This means you have your chance to fix this. Remember you haven't lost until you stop trying. Go ask for help from your friends. If they are at the same level of knowledge you can cross-examine the content to see if you are missing something. Trying to teach the content also helps you organize it better in your head which helps the learning process. If you are a lone wolf and don't like studying with others, try speaking to yourself aloud (it's not crazy behavior, sush). Stay hydrated and have healthy snacks around! Be consistent and hopeful. I'm sure things will go better during the next midterms. And if not, the other midterms. And if not, the other... midterms... GOd I have too many midterms...

I believe in you, buddy. You got this! Take some chubby pigeons that I found cute as a motivator (they believe in you too).

[saturn-zer0]

Academic vent post?-

It's a pain balancing between dark academia, light academia, and chaotic academia.

Dark academia: That strong desire to be better, to do better, to succeed above everyone else because that's what you've been told to be your whole life. Not even that. I was that person, I did succeed over everyone else. Wrapping myself away in literature and fine arts and history and languages. And I did find enjoyment in it all, but it was taken from me by the cruel hands of my family, my peers, my past partners, the institutions that chewed me up for my talents and spat me out to be left with an empty heart. And I was told I would succeed my whole life, and that kind of pressure destroys children. Now I'm desperately clinging onto the little talent I have left but it's not enough anymore. I can scream all I want to be better than my classmates, but in the end I just feel like a foolish child. Late to classes, missing classes entirely, forgetting homework, no revision done, and no time to even endulge in my own personal study. But the desire to be better will always be the bitter taste left upon my tongue, choking me out.

Light academia: The pure joy produced from the one topic that settled in your heart and never left. Literature comes to me naturely, the analysis, the imagery, the symbolism, the metaphors, the rhyming, the stage settings, it all combines into what I like to call my soul. People talk of soulmates, and literature is what I would call my soulsubject. The love I had as a kid only grew, and while the dreams to be an author dissappeared over time, it has only been crafted into my dream to be a lecturer. Proclaiming and sharing the adoration that I have for the one thing that has kept me going in my life, fueling my very being, in the hopes that at least one student, at least one, will find the solace that I also found myself. But the pressure that comes with that? The pressure to help those understand literature when at times I struggle to even understand myself? And if I fail? What comes next? I cannot help but put the weight of the world in my hands.

Chaotic academia: The rebellion, and the excitement that emits from it. The detachment of pressures that come with both dark and light academia. That feeling when you do skip a class, and yet can come back the next lesson and prove that you know what you're doing. The chaotic array of notes that can be barely defined as revision. But it works. The pressure is alleviated but at what cost? What am I to do when the chaos needs to be calmed? Because chaos is not agreed upon by the rest of the world, and in thriving in chaos, you are simply subjecting yourself to a life filled with hatred.

[samtf]

when the studying is stressing you out but you gotta keep up with the academia aesthetic

[maiseymiee]

Yo! I'm back with my Oc Amaine Kouma as a 14 years old girl! She's kinda the same as she was and she gotten more confident (^○^). Well my pencils has broken and I cannot do much about it so enjoy!

I wanted to give her glasses, but scared that her beautiful hair get ruined so I just kinda give her the glasses case 😭👊. She's nearsighted and have astigmatism in her left eye!

She studies a lot, mainly because she wants her mama to live a happy and easy life later when she's rich. (I luv her sm ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡)

It's kinda bad because I made the mistake of drawing the character super detailed on the right (I'm right-handed) and then realized that I will smudge her when I draw the other side 😭.

[yellowheartz]

Academic Pressure? Academic Victim? BITCH PLEASE, I HAVEN'T EVEN REACHED MY FULL POTENTIAL.

[coming-of-age-witch]

very cool now i need to ensure that my disastrious mood swings and casatrophic sudden rush of overwhelmingness doesn't get in my way of getting a cute little 95% A grade or i'm doomed to death

[thecoolnerdblog]

Why does Lin Manuel Miranda write the most academic validation/toxic studying vibes musicals ever. The entire opening of Hamilton?? So relatable. Like I want that kind of opening number when I’m successful from being a scholar. Nonstop from Hamilton?? Amazing. Any degree can relate to it. Why do I write like I’m running out of time?? To finish this degree thanks for asking. Surface pressure from Encanto?? Thanks the academic pressure is crushing I love being seen.

[burntoutyouth]

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately... I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... to put rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

― Dead Poets Society

Have you ever felt like drowning but when you're on land? Like oxygen is all around you but taking every single breath feels like going through a war. When you're holding back those tears, keeping a straight face and your throat is aching so much that you just want to give up? It's like drowning in everything. And nothing. You feel everything but want to feel nothing. Every bad memory, every bad feeling, floods your mind. And for a while you try to break through the waters. You try to remain afloat. Throwing your hands and legs in a desperate attempt to reach the surface, to swim towards the shore. Quite desperate, yet futile. After a while you stop. And you let yourself drown. You let yourself go deep, deep, and deeper still. Hoping that you'll reach the bottom. Hoping that you'll finally escape this. But It's an endless pit. It keeps going on and on and on. But you can't really die from this drowning. Because you can still breathe. Your lungs are still fully functional, taking in air and pushing it out. Air in, air out. In and out. But you can't do the same with those echoing voices in your head a and the things you are being told. Words that push through you and go in but you cannot push them out. It grows there, inside you spreading its root deep. Deep, deep, so deep. You hope it to grows around your heart and stops it from beating. Stops this mess once and for all. But it doesn't because of course, a parasite will never kill its host. And that leaves you drowning and yet still breathing. Not alive, not in the truest sense of the term. But just breathing.

(this sounds so fucking suicidal , might just follow Neil Perry's footsteps 🥰)

(I need to go to a therapist)

(oh nvm, I'm broke. Ig I'll just go and listen to THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT)

[ezsdiary]

what if I was a fraud all along?

[marauding-almond]

I did so bad in this physics exam I want to kill myself it was the worst exam all year I couldn’t remember ANYTHING half the questions I couldn’t even attempt and it fucking sucks because I know it’s could have done better I’d gotten top marks on the practice one but then I went and screwed it all up my dad is going to fucking hate me and I want to fucking die

[nongiftedpoet]

The more I grew up, the more exposure I got to the world, the more humbling experiences I faced, the more painful it gets to my pride…

The more I realize how tiny I am compared to these countless people on this planet, the more I realize how little I know about the world and it’s problems, the more I realize how ignorant I was.

How shameful and stupid I feel knowing I know nothing.

- nongiftedpoet

[melancholicxoxo]

tiktok wastes so much time aka why i deleted it.

this all started a few days ago when i happened to look through my screen time on my phone. i saw that i spent an average of 3 hours everyday on tiktok. one of those days i spent 6 HOURS on tiktok. those hours are hours i will never get back. i could have studied, or worked out, or read a book, or spent time with my family. or at least anything other than tiktok. i felt completely disgusted.

so, i decided to make a change. i got my dad to set a screentime passcode on my phone. i set a 20 minute limit to tiktok everyday. i assumed that i would use up that 20 minutes completely. but to my surprise, on my first day, i ended up only using it for 7 seconds. i didn't get an urge to look at it at all. and today, i've completely deleted the app.

i know that social media is a big distraction and i know that we all have goals that we want to achieve and don't get me wrong, social media can be a great thing, but its necessary to focus on what's most important -- studying.

it might be daunting to delete the app at first, so here are some steps that you can take.

set a limit and have someone hold you accountable

this is basically what i did. before that, i set myself a limit but i found myself just pressing the ignore button every time. so, i got my dad to set a code so i couldn't bypass it at all. this way, you can limit yourself to only using it for a certain period of time.

sign out of your accounts

this is actually something i saw in a thomas frank video, but its just signing out of your account. drafts are still saved in tiktok even if you sign out btw. and if you need to use it, you'll think twice since you have to sign in again. its just an extra barrier between you and the app.

replace the app with something else.

whenever you get the urge to use tiktok or whatever other social media app, place it next to another app that actually increases your learning/productivity. for example, duolingo, quizlet, clozemaster, or something else that you consider to be less time wasting.

hope these tips are actually somewhat useful and remember summer is coming

[foreversince]

didn't keep a track of stationery empties. my emotional empties include motivation, discipline, sleep schedule and my desire for everything in life now

[hyucksdarling]

to my girlies who seek academic validation but have never been able to get so, to my girlies who gave their one hundred percent but still get an average percentage. to my girlies who try, try, and try but they never shine out like that one overachiever of their class. to my girlies who are burnt out from completing their assignments. to all my mirrorball girlies, i am with you. and just like you did your best and best and best, life will give you its outcome. you are gonna get that validation you always crave, that perfect grade you seek for. i just know that all those all-nighters will be worth it all. i believe in you.

[avid-observer]

My mom: I promise I won't academically pressure you like other parents. Also my mom: Get a perfect grade next time.

[saturn-zer0]

Trying to convince yourself that you're an academic weapon, when at the end of the day you collapse onto your bed as if the whole world was on your shoulders, and have no strength to even lift yourself back up again.

At least Atlas is no longer alone with the weight he is forced to carry.