Grind Culture--Adrian

 

It is midnight. I continue to bounce my stress ball against my bedroom wall as the bright light

from my computer monitor strains my eyes in my dark room. The ball has bounced hundreds of

times against the wall at this point, but I still have yet to diagnose the bug that has kept me from

finishing my school’s Homecoming Court video. Every frame has been meticulously reviewed.

Every possible YouTube tutorial has been watched. Every friend has been called for help. But

still nothing. It’s been eight hours of raw video editing and multiple near-mental breakdowns, but

the video must be finished before our school’s pep rally. In sheer frustration, I decided to restart

Premiere Pro and the video finally played. There was no time to be relieved nor time to be

frustrated, the video was only halfway done and the rally was tomorrow. Every part of my body

was telling me to take a break, but I had to keep going. I had fallen victim to grind culture.

According to Lewis Nathanial, Grind Culture, also known as Hustle Culture, is when working

for longer hours at a time is normalized as a way to get to raw achievement or success. The term

has recently become popular as adults are beginning to work longer hours and students are

forced to study for extensive hours to complete an overwhelming amount of school work and to

meet higher academic standards set by colleges. As society grows increasingly competitive,

people are forced to join grind culture in hopes of keeping up with others.

While many proponents of grind culture do exist, in reality, it is a detrimental mindset that

destroys one's self-worth and mental state. Like many other students, academic validation and

fear of failure motivated me to dump hundreds of hours into school. I told myself I didn’t need

sleep. I didn’t need free time. I only needed to grind. This promoted a toxic mindset that only

pursued perfection. Any mistake on a test or a late assignment was proof to me that I wasn’t

trying hard enough. The countless nights spent rigorously studying practice tests for AP

Chemistry and AP Physics had begun to take a toll on my physical and mental health. I watched

as I got less sleep as the school year progressed and became more stressed as finals and AP

Exams approached.

Grind culture is a product of people’s pursuit of perfection. It creates an endless cycle of

self-depreciation and destruction of one’s self-worth as people begin to feel like a failure. They

are unable to meet the unrealistic expectations they set for themselves as they struggle through

hours of work hoping to achieve success. Take a mental break day? That’s blasphemous. Breaks

are unproductive in this culture.

The growing popularity of grind culture is not helped by the fact that students often glamorize its

toxic nature. The amount of times I’ve walked into class hearing students bragging about getting

two hours of sleep because they were studying for an upcoming test is concerning. What’s so

cool about mentally straining yourself? You’re not better than others since you choose to

dedicate your entire life to academics, in reality, it shows your lack of balance in life. It took me

until senior year to finally break away from grind culture. Some will say it is senioritis (probably

is), but I believe I have finally found balance in life. I feel less stressed about tests and entering

finals week. I now spend the majority of my time focusing on personal interests rather than

sitting in my room doing homework for hours. Practically all students understand the negative

effects of grind culture but are mentally trapped by it. It has such a strong grasp on us since we

have been dedicating most of our lives to our academic careers. Whether it be for validation from

our parents or peers, we continue to push ourselves to our limits.

You must break away from grind culture. You need to stop being hard on yourself. You need to

stop overthinking. You need to destress. You need to realize you can succeed without

overwhelming yourself. You need to realize it’s not that deep. It’s okay to touch grass.

Works Cited:

https://bonitavistacrusader.org/9398/opinion/confined-to-the-grind/#:~:text=The%20definition%

20of%20grind%20culture,mindset%20of%20striving%20for%20success.