By Sasha
’24
Welcome to this three-part series of articles that will discuss topics as diverse as, how to keep organised, the best study tips, how to practise mindfulness, and how to battle perfectionism. The articles feature wise words from teachers in the Halcyon community and are aimed to empower you in your school and personal life and help you stay sane in the IB.
When you’re a teenager you often have multiple lives relating to school, social, and personal. Sometimes it can be hard to balance the overwhelming tasks and various challenges.
Teenagehood is hard enough as it is. Trying to navigate through relationships with friends and family, whilst simultaneously maintaining academics to a high standard can quickly become overwhelming. School can bring many pressures and stresses into life, so I reached out to Ms Gardener and Ms Stoneman to have them share their insight and best tips on how to stay sane in the IB diploma programme.
These articles will touch on mental and physical health along with how to maintain balance in these times of madness.
Perfectionism
Ms Stoneman said her perspective on perfectionism helps her deal with the feeling of wanting to be better.
“In the end I try to remind myself that [one quiz grade] isn’t going to be the most important thing in my life,” she said.
Society creates in us a collective feeling of having to compete with your peers and yourself, but by acknowledging the right moments, it may bring some peace to this feeling.
“When it comes down to it,” Ms. Stoneman said, “there is always going to be someone better than you at everything: just acknowledging you’re going to do your best for that moment. Know that it’s going to be okay because in the end. It’s the big picture and not the one assignment or one test that matters.”
In the end, Ms Stoneman said, she is not defined by her high school degree, and you won’t be either.
Ms Stoneman even said it herself. “My high school degree is not going to define me, [though] it feels like it,” she said, “but in the long scheme of things you are probably going to live 80 years and this year is not a big portion of that.”
That one assignment that has been dragging you down for weeks may seem like the most important thing on the earth at that moment in time, but checking in with reality and prioritising your health is most important, Ms Gardner said.
“No assignment should take priority over your health,” she said.
Comparison culture is very prominent but it’s important to try your best with the situation you are in now, not anyone else’s. Realistically in the end, giving all your energy into a 7 may not be worthwhile. Taking the time to check in on your feelings and emotions at that present moment may help to provide a sense of understanding to how you need to care for yourself and your health. What’s most important in school is not the grade, but how you choose to deal with and respond to it. Thinking of how to benefit yourself in the future is so important and beneficial to you and the time you have ahead of you.
So if school isn’t going your way, take a moment to reflect and think how you can change the way in which you work so you can move ahead with more confidence.
Here are a few resources to help you keep perspective:
https://positivepsychology.com/how-to-overcome-perfectionism/
https://caps.umich.edu/content/coping-perfectionism
The Halcyonite 
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