Classification Students

Being a student in today’s society holds an immense amount of pressure to do one thing: graduate. Thirteen years of school prepare students for the next major steps of their lives. Every student faces many struggles and frustrations before graduation day arrives. One may be able to surmise a few details about a student before they put pencil to paper or even speak. One can also make assumptions about a student based on his or her seating position. Motivation, determination, and concentration will establish a student’s amount of success. The three categories of high school students are underachievers, average students, and overachievers.

The first category of students is the underachievers, or the back row. These students lack the characteristics needed to be successful. They are also the ones who think a success is showing up to class. Oftentimes, they will be failing classes and not even bother to hand in assignments. If they do pass their classes, it is with hardly passing grades and little knowledge gained. This typical student can be seen coming late to class with papers spewing out of his unorganized notebook. Work will not be completed on time, if finished at all. He will not participate in class discussions, or he may sleep throughout the period. In some cases, the only thing these students need is a little extra help. Procrastination, poor attendance, and laziness are few of the common characteristics of an underachiever. Underachievers revel in disrupting class and being a general nuisance to all involved. Homework transforms into spitballs and paper airplanes, and there are a multiple excuses prepared for why the assignment is not finished. They do anything possible to get out of class, and can be often found wandering halls, in the bathroom, or in the comfortable chairs in the office.

A step above the underachievers are those students that do just enough in order to succeed, the average achievers, middle row. These students are often capable of achieving academic success, but lack motivation. Many athletes fall into this category, and only because they need to be eligible to participate in their respective sport. Choosing not to make any extra effort, they receive average grades and maintain average attendance. They may not stand out in class, but their work is always completed. These students view extra credit opportunities as a waste of time. These mediocre scholars are also the ones who believe that Wikipedia is among the greatest inventions of all time, while turnitin.com is not. Students who contain these characteristics make up the most common category.

The final group of students are the overachievers. They sit prim and proper in the front row raising their eager hands. These workaholics are the ones whom teachers adore and whom fellow students despise. They often exceed the expectations of any teachers. They constantly work hard and are active in class. They take notes verbatim of what the teacher says, excel in group discussions, and much to the demise of the other students, raise the academic bar to an unattainable level. Although they are not often the greatest athletes, or the best at communicating with the opposite gender, they separate themselves with their cerebral work ethic. These scholars find reading entertaining, and would much rather solve a Rubik’s cube than run a mile. One of them will be inevitably become Valedictorian, and will give a speech at the podium come graduation day. When analyzing these students, one could be looking at future doctors, engineers, and various activists.

Being average is not necessarily a bad thing, and being an overachiever is not necessarily a good thing either. The student with 4.0 GPA in high school may not go on to become the neuroscientist everyone thought she would, while the student that took three gym classes may become a famous athlete. Of course, there is leeway for fluctuation in this formula of judgement. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide which type of student he or she will become: part of the back row, part of the middle row, or part of the front row.