Fostering high accomplishment in an educational setting, Lambert High School prides itself in its high academic rankings and hardworking students. Many students devote themselves to intense studying and test preparation to obtain excellent marks and course grades in order to set themselves up for their future. But is intellect everything when it comes to success?
Some students find the academic pressure to be highly intelligent to be a serious source of stress and discomfort. Such criticism is not entirely unfounded, as many individuals feel that they can find success throughout their life and career via a variety of factors apart from intellect. Factors can include the individual’s personality, social skills, likeability and more.
”There’s such a strong pressure to be high IQ and academically successful because of status, mostly,” Lambert junior Hieumanh Pham said. “People want high-status jobs like doctor or lawyer, and that’s the norm because they want a highly successful life, but they also forget the fact that everyone’s different; not everyone wants to be a doctor or a lawyer.”
Many will agree that it takes more than intellect to land and work towards a successful personal career. Jobs and opportunities throughout life require proactiveness, sociability and uniqueness. As a result, most students believe that it is better for them to be well-rounded in their skills rather than specializing or “zoning in” on one attribute of themselves (such as intellect).
“Social skills are very important, and that’s not directly correlated with intelligence,” Lambert junior Brandon Beng said. “Intelligence can allow you to achieve higher positions and work towards them, but it doesn’t define who you are as a person. I value other areas of a person such as their humor or how our personalities click.”
While the argument to be a well-rounded, unique individual is reasonably valid, it is still crucial that students try their best in school to achieve scores that accurately reflect or exceed the student’s true academic capacity. Some students may feel a sense of shame if they have unadmirable test scores, GPA (grade point average) or class rank, but it is important to note that their level of effort and attitude is a large determinant to how well they perform and perceive themselves.
“If you have low intellect, and you don’t try to help it by studying better, that’s on you, and you’ll feel ashamed,” Lambert junior Luke Rosen said. “But if you genuinely try to do something about it, try to get better grades or working harder, you shouldn’t be ashamed.”
Despite differences in intellect or grades, students should always try their best, acknowledge their individuality, nurture their well-rounded character and live without a defeatist mindset. After all, there’s always more to a person than what meets the report card.
