How to not get caught up in the hype of awards

[zofromuxo]

Something that I have been recently struggling with since well my whole academic life, but more so with university is the mindset of getting good grades in order to win some award from your university.
I think Thomas Frank from College Info Geek summed it up best in his article called Achievement Addiction.

Does anyone have any advice or tips for overcoming this I guess obsession of pushing for high grades in courses, just to win a shiny plague, piece of paper and even a little money?
This is honestly making me frustrated that i'm still falling victim to this utterly stupid thing. It is like I still view achievements as representations of my personal worth, which is infuriating since I help others overcome this, but can't seem to overcome it myself.

I feel like a hypocrite/impostor, when I help others with this

[brenden]

I feel like a hypocrite/impostor, when I help others with this

This is basically why I can't help you with this looooool. Mostly I got HDs in uni because of this attitude, (not necessarily aiming for awards, but just aiming as high as possible for no real reason).

I don't even know what to say, coz it's not like you can deliberately do shitter, is it? Haha. I mean, if it's impacting other things, like you aren't working or doing any hobbies... maybe just do those things, and 'let' your grades slip slightly if that's what ends up happening. You'll get used to focussing on the hobbies you enjoy in addition to focussing on uni and potentially you won't even mind a slip of hte grades because you're learning something else cool outside of academics

(recommendation: BJJ )

[appleandbee]

This works for me (to a large extent, except awards are fairly important now because I'm aiming for academic postgrads), but not necessarily everyone else.

1. Do extra-curricular activities, get involved in non-study things (like running for committee positions for university society or work experience) or build up other skills

It takes the pressure off from having to win awards or topping your subjects, as you now have other skills/achievements to build your resume upon, not just your grades (a main, but not only reason why many people want to win awards is to boost their resume/employability). The trade-off between good extra-curriculars and slightly lower grades reaps benefits in most cases (unless you want to go into academia). Also, the expectation and pressure to win awards is only natural if you spend all your time studying.

2. See winning awards as icing on the cake rather than the goal

I just think that gaining a good grasp of the subject material, gaining new knowledge and important skills should be prioritised. If you get good subjects grades through trying your best, I don't think you should be disappointed. In order to win an award, you need good grades which generally requires the extensive process of understanding the material and grasping the skills. So really, winning an award is a secondary matter.

3. Try to remove yourself from the bragging/humblebrag culture

In my opinion, the need to brag and the culture around it affects the way you value your achievements and the way to see yourself as a person. In some cases, people try hard to win awards to be acknowledged and praised by other people. I feel as though it's impossible to brag and actively acknowledge people's achievements without comparing people and achievements. Just know that you are way more than an award .

[peterpiper]

Something that I have been recently struggling with since well my whole academic life, but more so with university is the mindset of getting good grades in order to win some award from your university.
I think Thomas Frank from College Info Geek summed it up best in his article called Achievement Addiction.

Does anyone have any advice or tips for overcoming this I guess obsession of pushing for high grades in courses, just to win a shiny plague, piece of paper and even a little money?
This is honestly making me frustrated that i'm still falling victim to this utterly stupid thing. It is like I still view achievements as representations of my personal worth, which is infuriating since I help others overcome this, but can't seem to overcome it myself.

I feel like a hypocrite/impostor, when I help others with this

I find it really interesting and I'm having a bit of a hard time putting this into words, because I've never actually had this problem before. I think it would totally suck if we start associating grades with our self-worth, because there are so many kinds of intelligences out there. And I think to tackle this kind of problem, the first step would be to realise this as well as begin a sort of appreciation for the multitude of personalities out there. Once you begin to become more observant, you'll realise just how insignificant grades mean to the contribution of meaning we all amass, collectively and individually as people. Grades are great, buutt they mean very little to how we could potentially interact with the world around us. If that makes sense.

[EEEEEEP]

Something that I have been recently struggling with since well my whole academic life, but more so with university is the mindset of getting good grades in order to win some award from your university.

As a former high achiever, I understand the whole notion of wanting to excel , well not just excel but get to the "top " and the high "elite" in the cohort.  It's very dangerous to include achievements as part of your self worth. Under that logic, if you don't get awards, you won't have self worth (or much).

You don't need to win lots of awards to feel good or smart. You can feel good through the work that you do, the research that you'll one day do or the ground breaking discoveries. Not all of these have achievements.

P.S. You're helping lots of people right now, you won't ever get a award for it (maybe), but it should damn well give you lots of self worth.

My advice to you? Look at the process and the things you have done in the attainment of say your goals... to give you self worth. 

[zofromuxo]

First up, thanks for all the advice you gave me. I'm sure me and others will appreciate this

(recommendation: BJJ )

BJJ= Brazillian Jiu Jitsu? If so any recs for it? I know my uni has one, but i'm very hesitant to go myself. A tad hypocritical considering my journal entry on Networking events the death of university students

This works for me (to a large extent, except awards are fairly important now because I'm aiming for academic postgrads), but not necessarily everyone else.

1. Do extra-curricular activities, get involved in non-study things (like running for committee positions for university society or work experience) or build up other skills

2. See winning awards as icing on the cake rather than the goal

3. Try to remove yourself from the bragging/humblebrag culture

In my opinion, the need to brag and the culture around it affects the way you value your achievements and the way to see yourself as a person. In some cases, people try hard to win awards to be acknowledged and praised by other people. I feel as though it's impossible to brag and actively acknowledge people's achievements without comparing people and achievements. Just know that you are way more than an award .

I like your points in particuarly point 3. I think that is something I still struggle with despite not being exposed to it heavily (Social media spikes this up like mad in people). I feel that I'm seeing these awards as a way to get acknowledgement and praise by others for my hard work & effort and I admit I got jealous when others get them, who I feel don't deserve it.

Do you have any advice on changing that mindset/attitude because I do currently do work for my own course's club and i'm also a representative for my course. But then again it seems like only my lecturers and friends realize this, everyone else in my course only recognize the other members excluding me for both of these roles.

As a former high achiever, I understand the whole notion of wanting to excel , well not just excel but get to the "top " and the high "elite" in the cohort.  It's very dangerous to include achievements as part of your self worth. Under that logic, if you don't get awards, you won't have self worth (or much).

You don't need to win lots of awards to feel good or smart. You can feel good through the work that you do, the research that you'll one day do or the ground breaking discoveries. Not all of these have achievements.

P.S. You're helping lots of people right now, you won't ever get a award for it (maybe), but it should damn well give you lots of self worth.

My advice to you? Look at the process and the things you have done in the attainment of say your goals... to give you self worth. 

Hahahha, your right I won't get an award for the contributions on this site and your are correcting that it is in fact building up my self-worth.
But I'm just wondering how did you change from "being a high-achieving student" to "a former high-achieving student" ?