Only a quarter into my first year at Overlake, I’ve learned that competition here is mandatory. The tests designed to encourage growth sometimes pits students against each other like opponents in the arena, fighting for the same prize: the best letter, the highest grade, the ticket to elite colleges. Although no one (hopefully) has the intention of contending with anyone else, the idea that being top of the class is the prerequisite to succeeding in college and later in life naturally brings in competition and comparison. These numbers and letter are supposed to guide learning. Yet one mistake feels like a huge loss that sets you behind everyone else in this race towards college admissions. On some days, it feels like a hundred students, one victor. The question is: Is it you? The culture of “What did you get?” can cause school to no longer be a place for learning but instead it becomes the GPA Hunger Games. May the curve be ever in your favor.
In this unintended race of students, curiosity is the first tribute to die. For example, when students receive a test back, the first instinct for some is to reach for the numerical grade and laugh or cry about it. It’s to wonder what everyone else got, if you’re ahead or behind in the unintended yet impossible race of high achievers. Learning becomes secondary to winning. The grade worshiping overshadows the very roots of learning: wanting to find the answer to a question, wanting to know more and grow. It’s ironic in this school which prides itself in education and high-achieving students: we don’t learn because we are afraid to lose to our curiosity.
But the worst part about this mindset is that it introduces a cycle that hinders academic achievement. For students that look at the grade rather than the understanding, the sequence looks like this:
Makes mistake -> Comparison -> Panic -> Fails to understand concept and ignores learning -> Makes mistake -> Repeat
Trust me, I’ve found myself going in circles with this one before.
“Another bad grade? Well, what did you get?”
It’s a negative feedback loop that just keeps repeating and repeating until you understand that your number is not your learning, and your grade is not your identity. You can only learn and grow once you can fail safely without fear.
In the end, the secret truth is that there is no victor to the GPA Hunger Games. But the people who end up happy and knowledgeable at the end of their four years are the ones who truly understood and grew with the process of failure, rather than the ones who compare and obsess over letters and numbers. By understanding learning > earning, anyone can fail without fear. Everyone can be a winner of their own race.
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