We all know that one peer that seems to be good at everything. They are driven by a high standard to succeed, set goals for themselves and achieve their goals. They can somehow balance their social life with extracurricular activities, academics and hobbies. They are who you wish you were, but what makes them tick?
Overachievers are often idolized; outsiders looking in may think they’re perfect, and that they have their lives completely together. Let’s take a better look into the life of three “overachievers”, each nominated by their peers as an overachiever.
First is senior Rachel Park, she was nominated by her peers because of her involvement in the school and extracurriculars. “Her active participation in the community is a well known feat among her peers.” junior Serena Alfstad said. But if we take a deeper look into Rachel’s life we can better understand what has made her hold herself to such high standards and what helps her to continue wanting to make such a difference.
Rachel moved to the United States in the seventh grade. She describes this as her biggest challenge. “ I didn’t speak English at all, and I didn’t really adapt well to the American school. I decided to get out of my comfort zone to expose myself to challenges and new experiences.”
An outsider looking in may not have guessed that she didn’t adapt well because of how she’s outperforming her peers currently, but overcoming her biggest challenge is what has allowed her to thrive in life the way she does now. She participates in many clubs, and is president of most of them, while also taking five AP classes. How does one stay motivated to do this? Well, Rachel keeps in mind her future as she sees it as something worth working for. She works hard in high school so that she will be prepared for the future. Her involvement in her community as a teen helps her learn about a strong work ethic, diligence, and dedication and will save her time trying to learn those values in the future.
She gives everything she does in her life a purpose and whenever she’s given a task she asks herself: “Why am I doing this? I try to understand why I need to achieve this goal, and why it matters.”
Her overall goal and what drives her most is creating an empathetic world. “Spreading empathy and kindness can lead to greater understanding and unity among people.” Having this goal gives her direction and purpose in life.
Goals help us to stay focused, achieve self growth and improvement. To achieve anything you have to create goals for yourself. Another person that does a good job of this is Reagan Geer. She is known as an overachiever, and shares that her main motivator is herself. She shares advice that could help you set and achieve goals, this is what makes her an overachiever. She shares that her goal is to become the best version of herself; she’s constantly focused on self improvement.
“Regan geer has it going on,” said junior Sarah Brattli. Reagan shares that she participates in a lot of extracurriculars such as varsity cross country, Jiu jitsu, and more. She’s taking five AP classes, orchestra and student council, and has all A’s. She’s able to make time for her boyfriend and to nourish all of her friendships. But talking to Reagan Geer she shares that she’s not really different at all; she just does a lot of different things. She was more than happy to share how she’s become so successful and what drives her. You too can be an overachiever if you listen to her advice. Her main motivator is herself, she shares that her goal is to become the best version of herself she’s constantly focused on self improvement. “Motivation is a myth,” she said. “You’re never going to be motivated to do things like school work; you’re always just going to have to develop self-discipline.” Now this may seem easier said than done, but if we look at Reagan’s life we can see that she’s putting her money where mouth is and practicing her advice everyday. And I must say it seems to be working.
Sophomore “overachiever” Noah Wooten was described as always being one step ahead of the game. Noah is driven by his passion for trying and his overall goal to get into college. “Just thinking ahead into my future life and trying to make it as good as possible and that overall thought makes me the overachiever that I am now.” Noah shares that his life can often get overwhelming as an overachiever. “I put a lot of tasks on myself. I have a really busy schedule,” he said. He’s currently the president of a card club where he plays and teaches games like Pokemon, and he also wrestles. He had to give up two after school activities this year because of his overwhelming workload. Noah believes that if you stay on top of your work load you can actually have it all together. “AP world history is my hardest class,” he shared .“It’s very challenging, but I study very hard and I can do well.”
He stays motivated by practicing a strategy he calls “45 minutes on, 15 minutes off rule.” He finds if he does 45 minutes of homework it works well for him to take a fifteen minute break and rest.
“I really don’t have it all together all the time. I think that from the outside it can look like that sometimes,” said Geer.
Overachievers are often looked up to but their image can be misleading, “overachievers really don’t have everything put together at all,” shared Park .
Geer sees challenge and success as subjective, she says “I don’t think that anyone should feel bad about not taking AP classes or anything like that. I think that as long as you’re challenging yourself in a small even one small way then that is enough.”
Overachievers are people who challenge themselves to a point that sets them apart from the average person. “I also find myself pushing to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion,” Park said.
Wooten believes that if you stay on top of your work load you can actually have it all together.
In order to stay on top of your workload you have to prorize. The cost of being an overachiever is one that most students don’t want to pay. Overachievers had to achieve their goals, but that doesn’t mean that they have more hours in a day than the average person or that they are superhuman. They’re not. They are just willing to find something that drives them to be the best they can be. Next time you look at someone’s life and wish to yourself that you could be more like them, take a second and instead look at your own life, create your own goals, and ask yourself what sacrifice you are willing to make and maybe one day you can be an overachiever too.
