Every time I scroll on social media, I see people my age starting side projects, small businesses, non-profit organizations, or becoming content creators with millions of followers. Don’t get me wrong, I wish to do something meaningful and impactful as well, but when looking closely at these “passion projects,” it’s all just noise. I have to admit, I say the same thing. “I want to start a new business.” “I’m going to become an influencer.” Despite how many times I’ve taken these pledges, it ultimately never ends up happening, and if it does, a long hiatus occurs shortly after.
It sounds dramatic, but it’s what’s happening to students. A majority of students are doing countless projects to build up their resume, but do they care for it? All of it is practically just the idea of being successful, which is currently the pressure that’s being placed on students. For them, the pressure is to constantly be doing something, something that could be pushing them towards “success”, but is it to chase goals, or just to appear as successful? For instance, the label of “valedictorian”: after being ranked first and recognized for your hard-working achievement, what’s after that? The majority don’t have that figured out and end up not knowing what to do from that point on, and if they do, they realize they have to start all over again. Simply, It’s just a word for the students ability to strategically bump their GPA, rather than the measure of how smart they are.
It’s hard trying not to feel overwhelmed and compare yourself while seeing everyone around you hustling and constantly achieving something. Most of the time for certain students, it’s just trying to check off the boxes, achieving the image of success rather than finding the passion and purpose of these projects. According to a study from Pew Research Center, around 70% of students feel pressured to achieve academically and succeed in college admission process. Most students ponder over the thought that getting into a prestigious college will make them succeed in life, but it’s not always guaranteed. When the pressure gets excessive, it progressively gets worse from there.
It’s like trying to balance on ice: one wrong move, and you slip. The constant race to do something results in burnout. The National Library of Medicine describes “burnout” to be exhaustion and just not being able to keep up anymore. So much of that time is being spent on that one goal, that one eventually loses themselves in the process. Before you know it, the grind for growth becomes a cycle of exhaustion. Students are constantly in a rush to go from going to school, working on extracurriculars, getting a job, and still being able to have time for themselves.
Fortunately, not every student is doing activity after activity to appear “successful.” There is a distinction between “appearing successful” and genuinely striving for success. There are students who are discovering their passions and building real-world experiences for themselves. The purpose behind students’ activity should be the main focus, the main goal that made one to start in the first place, rather than the successful appearance that could be brought upon starting.
Success is not guaranteed when starting at an accelerated pace. When recognizing the passion and meaning of the journey, the alignment of our purpose to success will change the destination in hustle culture.
