The Oxford English Dictionary defines perfectionism as: “the tendency to demand of oneself an extraordinarily high or even flawless level of performance and the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.” This phenomenon, overwhelmingly prevalent in advanced high school students, can be detrimental, if not catastrophic, to teenagers’ mental health. When one believes their self-worth is based entirely on their achievements, harm often follows. Increasingly high levels of perfectionism can be found extensively inside the classrooms of BSM, which then proposes the question: why is perfectionism so prevalent, if not standard, at BSM?
BSM classifies itself as a college preparatory school. This title certainly implies, or at least attempts to, that BSM’s academics will set their students up for a successful and fulfilling college experience. However, this title also evokes demanding pressure. When hearing the words “college prep” in every BSM meeting, presentation, or announcement, students are reminded that college is slowly creeping up on them and its arrival is inevitable.
With many college admission rates rapidly declining, BSM students, upperclassmen specifically, are expected and encouraged to take rigorous classes and maintain adequate grades in them. Furthermore, an ideal college admissions candidate would be heavily involved with the school and community. This pressure to be nothing short of extraordinary can slowly damage one’s self-confidence, and simultaneously increase a “must be perfect” narrative. “[Colleges are] minimizing their admissions rate, and then telling the kids you have to do this, this, and this for us to even look at you, which is ridiculous. They’re asking students to do and achieve things that most people by the time they’re 30 haven’t been able to do,” English teacher Anne Marie Dominguez said.
[Colleges are] minimizing their admissions rate, and then telling the kids you have to do this, this, and this for us to even look at you, which is ridiculous. They’re asking students to do and achieve things that most people by the time they’re 30 haven’t been able to do.”
— Anne Marie Dominguez
BSM undoubtedly has an abundance of perfectionists. In a recent survey sent out by the Knight Errant, 78.4% of students believed BSM has a high percentage of perfectionists, and 71.6% think there is an underlying expectation of being a perfectionist at BSM. In response to why there is such an abnormal amount of perfectionism around the school, Dominguez still thinks it has to do with the demanding college pressure. “It’s almost like, where you have high luxury brands when a t-shirt costs $200, It makes everybody want it. That’s what [colleges] are doing,” Dominguez said.
A perfectionist mindset does not only affect that certain individual. Some non-perfectionist students at BSM have felt the pressure to conform to a high standard of excellence. Junior Kate Cornell has felt this throughout her high school career, but more specifically in her AP classes. “I definitely think that in harder classes the people who take them are generally more perfectionists and obsess over their grades more, which sometimes makes me wonder if I should be caring more,” Cornell said.
Comparison seems to be the root of many problems for a perfectionist, especially those at BSM. Additionally, social media contains the power to send someone into a spiral of self-depreciation. When college decisions come out, social media provides easy access for those who got in to boast, and those who didn’t to sulk. “I will say that social media plays a role because it just gives more of a platform for students to post, ‘oh, I got into here, I got into here,’…I think the most pernicious thing that it does is that it forces us to compare ourselves to other people all the time, and that feeds into the pressure of a perfectionist. I just think that social media pours gas on the flames,” Dominguez said.
Being a perfectionist is not easy. Worrying about your grades profusely can impact your mental health and social life; inviting anxiety wherever you go. “I’d say when I’m at social events, [or] hanging out with my friends, I’m constantly thinking about like, ‘oh, is this grade in or oh, is this exam gonna be graded or stuff like that?’ So it’s just always a thought on my mind…I spend a lot of time perfecting all my assignments every night, and I’ll triple check and make sure I have everything done before I go to bed…it just makes me really anxious to think that I’m missing or behind on something,” junior Scarlett Lira said.
Overall, BSM clearly has a culture of perfectionism that causes students to either desperately try to keep up with their grades or conform to other students following that path.