By: Tyler Gallagher, Contributing Writer
Over the past few years, the job market has become increasingly demanding for college students to prepare for the real world. However, many students may overlook this factor in believing they must be flawless with their grades to get a high paying career. What is making students feel this way? Do they focus on one trait over another throughout their education? Is this desire for perfection worth it in the long run?
Many questions linger and there are many subjective opinions, both from students and professors. Their definition of perfection in academics, though, is to get the highest grade possible, sometimes at the expense of their personal life and what they hope to do with themselves post-graduation. In fact, some question their future and whether they made the correct choice.
“I believe that throughout my education, I’ve been exploring alternative options, mostly due to me firmly thinking that my career won’t be able to suffice in the real world because of bills and necessities being at a higher cost,” an Arts major student at NCC said.
Some students, local and nationwide, have outright changed their majors entirely, with around 33% of undergraduates shifting theirs in hopes of better job opportunities (InsideHigherEd). Surprisingly enough, these statistics were pro- vided in 2017, but today, 75-85% of students swap majors during college (LuminaFoundation). The highest pivot seems to be those in Journalism majors, with AI uprising being the key blame, and not the quality of the major itself.
However, selecting another major isn’t always likely to bring spectacular results. In fact, it is common nowadays that even with a college degree, there is still speculation that someone’s “dream career” won’t be attained, with 30% of 971 surveyors getting a full-time job because of their degree (CNBC). For those individuals that remain dedicated to their career path, they attempt to be as successful as possible in any given class to the point where it may interfere with personal lifestyle.
“I usually try to prioritize my grades in college so that it would look good on my resume… I do think it takes a toll on my mental well-being, because getting a bad grade is something that’ll al- ways be frowned upon and some- times it makes me lose confidence in learning about specific con- tent,” said one NCC sophomore.
Sometimes, students consider grades as a secondary factor and prefer to focus on the course material to retain knowledge even after an exam, knowing it will likely not be reiterated or discussed in the future. Some use this method of learning sparingly, though, depending on how crucial the class is.
“It does vary depending on class types because with electives, I’m not as focused on grades… As long as I’m passing the class, I know that I’m understanding the flow correctly. As far as retaining the knowledge post-exam, it becomes tricky,” Pasco Hernando State College Freshman Amy Holley added.
“Knowledge is more important be- cause you’re going to use what you learn in class way more than grades in the long run. The knowledge is what helps get sufficient grades and even put it to use beyond college,” NCC student Kaitlin Glick said.
Most high school students are notorious for focusing on graduating and not needing most of the knowledge in the real world. But a handful of students test their limits and try to enter AP or Honors courses in hopes of better quality of teaching, and to build the foundation of their future. Why do some of the students go through the stress of that?
“I think the classes will, in some way, benefit my future but, for the most part, I’m taking [AP classes] to build up my high school credit requirements… An AP class is challenging, but striving for the good grades is very satisfying, despite me not retaining as much knowledge as I would like to,” Freedom High School student Collin Whiting said.
“I have been motivated to take more Honors courses in high school simply because of the quality of teaching being a night and day difference compared to academic classes. Electives also make me comfortable as well, because it’s sometimes in an environment with people I know I share the same skills with and people that are likely to dive further into the same career as me,” Freedom High School student Laylanee said.
Not only did students provide their opinions on how they’re going about their education, but professors and staff at NCC were able to share their perspectives on how they went about their education, as well as how they became college professors.
To start, Communications Professor Spring Shank explained that she primarily focused on grades prior to her high school experience. “Up until early high school is when I really started worrying about my grades, and once I fully entered the high school environment, I got more oriented towards understanding what I was learning about… Growing up at the time that I did, it wasn’t as ‘demanding’ as it is now… My validation of knowledge is what assisted me in becoming a professor, as I fell into the act of teaching on my own.”
Sociology Professor Joshua Kreger also included his perspective: “I didn’t quite have a cohesive plan when I went to college. I wanted to do well, while also focusing on things I found interesting… I was definitely more motivated to invest into subject material that I found to be helpful or interesting long-term and less so on getting good grades…” He added that being a professor wasn’t always something in his agenda, but it was a decision he did not rgret, and it helped him gain new skills that improved his curriculum.
Some professors even agree that students sometimes don’t retain the knowledge they were taught, usually because of the mindset that when- ever a test is completed, it’s almost certain that the discussion won’t be brought up in future lectures. Stu- dents are so acclimated to putting full attention into a new unit, rath- er than referring to a previous one.
Professors also believe that a handful of students may suffer through indirect peer pressure. For example, if a student in one major is doing really well, but another isn’t too confident about them- selves, that second student feels more obligated to join the first stu- dent’s major, knowing it can likely be more successful in their future, despite it not being something that they wanted to do as a career.
Lastly, staff members Jill Gehring (Math Tutoring Coordinator) and Gabby Stanley (Writing Tutor) at NCC’s Learning Center mentioned how there is a large influx of students that arrive during the fall semester due to high enrollment. They usually discover that “students who arrive very close to the due date of an assignment or test strive to get a solid grade, while students who consistently ask for tutoring veer towards the educational value a course may hold.” They also included that focusing on strictly school and grades is harmful, as it pressures students to be flawless, degrading the quality of the learning material. Focusing on learning can bring joy and fulfillment, so long as personal life is factored in as well.
Jill and Gabby concluded with ad- vice that “even though a particular career may not pay a high salary, it’s better to stay in the major that students fundamentally enjoy because not only will their college years be more enjoyable, but also they are still learning problem solving and critical skills that are beneficial to life and can be used even outside of their main career…Continue trying as much as possible, and eventually you will find your strong suit.”
Overall, the value that an education may hold is subjective in a con- textual manner. Devoting a large amount of time into learning may bring joy and a “getaway” for some, while others may feel deflated be- cause of fatigue from learning, which can harm grades and overall value of what they are learning. Everybody has a strict prowess about how they go through academics, which makes some to believe that perfection is the key to success. Some- times, though, it’s what you also retain as a result of that perfection.