An open letter to students on how dangerous it is to see school as a survival test

Dear students,

Three blocks south of Northwestern University and just steps from Lake Michigan, you can find Yellowbrick Psychiatric Hospital in an innocuous office complex. Although Yellowbrick treats the expected spectrum of mental disorders, from anxiety to schizophrenia, its mission is unique: it is the only psychiatric hospital in the country that focuses exclusively on emerging adults—young people in the ever-widening gap between adulthood and stability. family, mortgage and settled career.

Unfortunately for you, my dear student reader, Yellowbrick activity is on the rise.

In a recent New York Times Magazine article, journalist Robin Marantz Henig provided a disturbing portrait of the typical Yellowbrick patient: "He is a young man who was doing very well at one of the top Ivy League schools before he came to the last course of the last semester of his last year at the school , where he finished his final thesis and failed to submit it." This brief moment of existential despair spiraled out of control.

"The demands of approaching independence can exacerbate mental health problems or create new problems for people who have managed to fulfill all the expected roles up to that point," explains Henig. "When the end of school comes and the expected role disappears, these people are lost."

In other words, if you go your whole life thinking, "If I can do this, things will get better later," you'll eventually forget what "better" actually means.

That's not to say that every student who views school as a test of survival will end up at Yellowbrick, but the desperation that accompanies the constant postponement of a pleasant life can make its presence felt nonetheless. This can be seen, for example, in the regular emails I receive from college students suffering from deep procrastination - an advanced stage of burnout where, as with the Yellowbrick patient above, it becomes impossible to finalize work - or in the quiet desperation of an overworked lawyer who he can no longer recall why exactly studying law once seemed like such an obvious choice.

I did not want to write this letter to scold. In fact, I'm just horrified by the growing number of (often Ivy League-educated) voices discussing student stress who cry, “Life is more than Harvard!” but give little clues as to what that “more” should mean.

I am writing to suggest an alternative.

I have spent the last ten years researching and writing books about students who have defied the survival mindset. These are students who did very well academically - they got into good schools, got interesting jobs - but they did it while enjoying their lives.

At the heart of their strategy were three simple rules, which I would like to share with you:

Do less.

These students appreciate an open schedule and the ability to devote more than enough time to a reasonable course load and a small number of activities. They find deep satisfaction in an afternoon spent without rushing through a literature course assignment under the tree.

Do better.

The more time prosperity you get from "doing less", the more your obligation to do that small number of things much better grows. These students realize that they will ultimately be judged not by the sum of their contributions to all the different activities, but by the extent of their ability in the one thing they master best. They are, of course, about more than just the aura of a star that shines from any person with real ability. They find further deep satisfaction in slowly building up one thin layer of skill after another.

Know your "why"

These students bring the above rules into life not as a means, but as a goal: a life with both - both freedom and focused focus - is a life well lived. In the short term, this approach will help you get into a good college and then excel there. However, its effectiveness extends much further. Consider for a moment someone whose life you consider to be Good with a capital D. It might be, for example, an acclaimed writer or a deep thinker. You will probably notice that, like the students mentioned above, these people devote their share to a small number of interests (perhaps only one), but they fulfill this small number of things exceptionally well.

Three simple rules, seven short words. However, it is a comprehensive philosophy whose impact is astounding .

He explains how Michael got to Stanford with a routine workday that always included a two-hour head-clearing trip, and how Sarah got to Princeton with a schedule that allowed her to finish her schoolwork before dinner. It also explains how Alice, who had to drop out of school for a semester due to poor performance, became an A student and was recognized as one of the best on campus after drastically reducing her schedule, as well as how Scott excelled in his law school school after avoiding activities expected of new students.

Emerson famously remarked that "If you don't fit in, the world will beat you with its unkindness. And that's why one has to be able to appreciate a sour facial expression." He then went on to add the crucial point: "But the sour expressions of the crowd have no deep causes - rather they turn on and off according to the way the wind blows." People express strong feelings about the expectation of the modern academic experience, and you'll find that many find the idea of ​​doing less simply unimaginable, and perhaps even offensive. But as you begin your winter semester, keep Emerson's wisdom close at hand. Remember that these strong feelings do not have deep support and are even likely to have little real-world impact.

In other words, forget about that overworked sophomore (managed by his $900-an-hour school counselor) and ignore that tri-major who proudly trumpets his increasing number of sleepless nights. It's your life. And your right to invest abundant mental energy in discovering how to live well. Hopefully these ideas will give you a good place to start.

Best wishes,

Cal Newport
Cambridge, Massachusetts

The article is translated from the Czech language from http://www.mimoskolu.cz/otevreny-dopis-studentum-o-nebezpeci-videni-skoly-jako-zkousky-preziti/