Are You A College Overachiever?

Maria Pascucci was the classic overachiever. For four long years, she toiled relentlessly in hopes of graduating college with a near perfect GPA and a diploma inscribed with the words “summa cum laude.” In 2001 she received the coveted diploma that spoke to her high achievement, but what she didn’t get was the happiness that she hoped would follow. In her article “Summa Cum Laude and Valedictorian: Are they worth it?” Pascucci sums up her struggle with perfectionism.

“That diploma with its tiny inscription publicly acknowledging my perfection had the last laugh. I worked so hard for it and it destroyed me; now I didn't even want it. I wasn't perfect, and I let my own quest for perfection destroy my health, my confidence and emotional well-being,” she wrote. Pascucci, who had been an avid writer, lost passion for her craft due to the burden of her schoolwork.

Her case is not uncommon. In the search for self-worth, college women can end up linking personal fulfillment to stellar academic performance and high involvement in student activities.

Dr. Jen Day Shaw, the Dean of Students for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), noted the factors that press students to overachieve.

“Healthy overachievers seem to be motivated by strong self-esteem and the desire to perform well, no matter what they do. Unhealthy overachievers may be motivated by low self-esteem, unrealistic self or parental expectations, or perhaps an inability to make positive choices regarding themselves,” Shaw said in an e-mail interview.

Makeia Taylor, a college sophomore, said that issues of self-identity could serve to spur overachievement in college women.

“I personally feel that most cases of overachieving stems from a person not fully defining themselves and as a result there is usually a person in their lives they are trying to live up to and please or trying to be completely opposite from,” she said.

Taylor is a Business Administration major who holds leadership roles in her school’s Student Government Association, the Alternative Spring Break Association, and participates in Leadership Challenge, a program that lets student leaders create a personal leadership development plan. Though she is an active student, Taylor says her involvement stems from healthy reasons.

“With that being said, a tool I use to not be defeated by the idea of “overachieving” is simply defining myself and my goals and being committed to things because of passion versus the hope of popularity or acceptance,” she said.

For young women who feel the pressure to succeed, the results can be high levels of stress.

In 2006, mtvU, the college music channel, published a study exploring the impact of stress and depression in the life of the college student. The study reported that 52% of female college juniors said that they “have been stressed out to the point that they have shut down and felt they couldn’t function.”

According to Youth Intelligence, 73% of college-age women “feel stressed out.” Of these, 17% attribute their stress to financial concerns and 30% to academics.

According to mtvU, study factors such as “more intense competition,” “increased uncertainty,” and “intense future focus,” influenced stress and depression among college students.

“Young women today are also blessed with unlimited possibilities. A young woman recently asked me, ‘I can be anything I want so how do I choose?’ While that’s awesome that we have choice, too much choice can lead to an anxiety about the future and overachieving,” Pascucci said.

It is possible for unhealthy overachievers to break the cycle, Pascucci did. Today she is a freelance marketing writer who has her own business. She has also made it her business to empower high school and college students dealing with the stresses of academic life. Her website CampusCalm.com offers students, parents, and educators advice about time management, stress management, and different aspects of student life.

Visitors to CampusCalm.com can download the free “Stress-Less” kit, which includes an mp3 about how to conduct a stress-free career search, a subscription to the website’s e-zine, a subscription to the website’s podcast, and a special report entitled “10 Mindsets Students Must Have to be Happy and Successful.”

Taylor said that unhealthy overachievement could keep students from experiencing healthy failure.

“I would say that overachieving in some areas is great, but attempting to be the best at everything…in each area leaves little room for the potential knowledge gain that can be so grand when you make a mistake or come in second place,” she said.

“With that being said, join groups or activities because you truly have a passion for it, not because you are trying to live up to someone else’s expectations, take note that winning has more definitions than coming in first place, buy an agenda to keep track of what you are involved in, and everything else will work itself out,” Taylor continued.

Myths that Maria suggests can push students toward unhealthy overachievement:

• Straight A’s in school guarantees a happy & successful life.

• Your resume is your be-all-end-all ticket to success.

• That all teachers think their best students are the ones who ace every quiz.

• That an Ivy League education is your greatest ticket to wealth & happiness.

• There is only one path to prosperity in life.

• And the flip-side to overachieving is “If I’m not smart enough or good enough to get A’s, why should I even bother to try in school?”

Methods that Maria suggests to overcome unhealthy overachievement:

• Dreaming big

• Soul-searching to discover your passion

• Being persistent and resilient - finding the courage to make mistakes, fail and try again and again and again

• Establishing a support network of positive people who want to help you reach your dreams

• Using your talents to give back to society & make a difference

• Living authentically

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