I'm not sure how best to answer this question. On the one hand, I'm studying for a PhD in a competitive field. If I'm not in the top five or ten in the country there's a good chance I won't get a job at the end of it, and I've had to consistently be in the top five in my class at every level of education to get where I am now. On the other hand, what I'm studying is philosophy. If you're working hard at philosophy then you're doing it wrong.


Thinking back to secondary (or "high") school and college, generally I worked as hard as I felt I needed to in order to achieve my next goal. Being the best, or being above average, was never important because I wasn't generally in direct competition with my classmates. Occasionally I bet against the guy sitting next to me in economics over which one of us would get the highest grade on the homework, but the grade itself wasn't the motivating factor.



Incidentally, earlier this week I was going through the training to be a tutor for undergrads and they brought up an interesting point regarding this be-the-best stuff. Apparently in a lot of countries, particularly in East Asia, there is a lot of emphasis on competing against your classmates. We were specifically instructed that as tutors it's our job to explain that that's not the way education is supposed to work here. You're not supposed to be better than everyone around you - you're supposed to work together to further each other's education. Discuss the homework in groups and help each other through it. It's better for everyone.

Edit: I've just noticed that my post looks contradictory - I've said that I've had to be in the top five in my class to get where I am, and then gone on to say that I was never in competition with my classmates. What I mean is that, as it happens, my classmates were at a level such that getting into a masters/PhD course required being in the top five, but even if they'd been super-geniuses and I was the worst in my class I would still have gotten in with the grades I actually achieved.

I would normally be happy with anything that could put me through university and from which I learned and enjoyed my time, but since I can't afford university without any type of scholarship I am required to work my ass off and get high grades.

Quote from Salt

I would normally be happy with anything that could put me through university and from which I learned and enjoyed my time, but since I can't afford university without any type of scholarship I am required to work my ass off and get high grades.

I'm so sorry ;-;

Edit* 777th post!
:D

as long as i'm learning there's no problem. i've had to repeat a couple of the more content-dense subjects in my course because my memory has deteriorated a fair bit, but i just see that as an opportunity to understand it better.

At school I was pissed if I wasn't in the top three.
At university shit stepped up a little and I'm doing a notoriously hard subject where I have to admit that some (autistic) people will just always be better than me.
But I've still got to get the best grades I can as the career area I'm aiming to get into is extremely competitive.

School was hard for me but I always made straight A's. I have a learning disability that is why I was in special ed classes with other students as well because the learning speed was slower than regular classes. I did graduate from high school not with a regular diploma but a special diploma and I am happy I still got an education.

I can't pick one option because I went through all phases in school.

Age 5 to 8: I had to be the fucking best at everything. My school had a ranking system for the students in each class, and I'd be disappointed if I wasn't 1 in my class.
Ages 8 to 10: Meh, you can't always be No 1. But I like being above average.
Ages 10 to 13: Jesus christ dude. GIRLS. SPORTS. Also, what? I can make people laugh? And I'm better at that than most people? Fuck studies. As long as I don't fail. I'm fine.
Ages 13 to 15: Hmm. So girls like smarter guys? You make better jokes if people think you're smarter? I should get back to being above average.
Ages 15 to 17: Fuck the world. I need to get into a good college. I need to make films, I need to produce them. I need to animate, write scripts. Study to be THE BEST.
Ages 17 to 20: Ah I'm in a good college. But...Hello weed. Hello... other drugs. Hello passed out women and shady nightclubs. As long as I don't fail, I think I'll be fine.
Ages 20 to 21: Time to get that Masters Degree, bitch? Oh yeah. Time to show these assholes what the Nish can do. Bring me that fucking MBA and the fucking No. 1 spot.

Quote from Nish

But...Hello weed. Hello... other drugs. Hello passed out women and shady nightclubs.

Story time papa nish

Schoolwork and homework can also test whether you know the material if you treat them as tests. If they're not testing you, then find things that do, otherwise you are just fooling yourself into thinking that you're good enough which is never the case. And enough with separating work into school and home. Work, is work. They are tools that can be used anywhere. I dislike the term homework because it is often mistaken as work set for you by the teacher. Study is what I would much prefer. You can never finish studying, like how you finished your homework. There is constant room for improvement and refining your knowledge.

You say tests are all that matters, you want to ace tests, and you want to know whether you understand the material. Yet you conclude that tests are "all that matters". This oversimplifies what you truly care about and this apathetic tone comes off as ignorant. To me it seems you care about applying what you learnt to see good results but you don't appreciate the work that goes into it. Correct me if I'm wrong.