During our sophomore year in high school, my friends and I decided to participate in our school’s annual badminton competition. With high enthusiasm and all the athleticism we could muster, we showed up after school and swatted at the feather thing (rather unsuccessfully) until eventually we decided it would be best to just refrain from the tournament and play among ourselves.
That was the first time I ever thought, wow, we are nerds.
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We fit the type at least: terribly un-athletic, somewhat awkward, and much more comfortable with our books and notes than among the social scene. But coming to that realization didn’t really bother me. Since then, I have, for the most part, embraced my self-appointed nerd status. I actually like leaving the library with a giant stack of books. I like scoring well on tests. I like getting good grades. I like thinking about and discussing new things. I just kind of like being a “nerd”.
Academics have been an emphasis in my life for so long. On the surface, my high school transcript would identify me as “successful.” But what really is academic success?
Academic success is simply giving your best effort every time. It is not the ideal schedule with a perfect GPA to match. It is not the best scholarship or the most degrees or the major that gets you the highest-paying job. Rather, academic success is finding the best person you can be, and becoming more like that person every day. It is challenging yourself, challenging your mind, to do more than you thought you could do. It is seeking out understanding through hard work and practice, learning new ideas daily, and sharing those ideas with others. It is learning to appreciate ideas that are different from yours, while at the same time, growing in the ability to defend an even firmer foundation for your own beliefs.
It is not about stereotypes or superiority. It is not even about being a nerd. While someone might have looked on my group’s failure at badminton, or for that matter, our grades or our test scores, and categorized us as such, the true beauty of academic success is that the pursuit of it belongs to anyone and everyone.
But why pursue it? Why is academic success important?
Because, at its core, academic success is about God.
God gave us the ability to learn. He endowed our souls and minds with the ability to think and to reason, and He put us into His creation, overflowing with possibilities of discovery. He wants us to use these gifts. He wants us to make new discoveries and to search for Him, to find Him. Rather ironically, it is the line of academics that wants to erase God, when truthfully, in seeking academic success, one can find God everywhere. He is in mathematics and history, science and language—all areas of study derive from Him. Pursuing success in academics is using the gift of our minds God has given us to learn more about Him and the intricate universe He has made.
Not only that, but God also expects us to do our best. He has asked that we do all things as though we are doing them for Him. So, we should study as though God were the teacher, because in fact, He is. Seeking success in academics should be about working hard, not for our own gain, but for the glory of God.
Academic success is not about knowing the most or being the greatest. It’s not about the highest GPA, or the most impressive schedule. It’s not about the best degree or most education. It’s not about fitting the nerd stereotype, and thankfully, it’s not about badminton either.
Academic success is about seeking God and giving Him our best.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” –Colossians 3:23
