Devyani – Week 12 – Reverse Parasitism

Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with a friend–a conversation which inevitably turned into complaints about school and comparisons of workloads, as it usually does. Forever searching for a way to romanticize school and capture our love for learning, we endeavored to find a metaphor that might represent our relationship with school as students:

“It’s kinda like a parasite feeding off its host,” my friend mused.

I made a face. It definitely felt like the pressure had been draining me recently, but of course I had to get technical about it. “But the school’s so much bigger than us, so who’s the parasite in this scenario?”

She huffed a laugh. “Alright, then we’re the parasites, and the host is feeding off of us?”

We shared a good laugh over it, but the analogy still stuck with me. As much as I would prefer not being called a parasite, we technically are–and I mean this in the broadest, most ecological sense that we as students are meant to benefit from school by gaining knowledge that will carry over. In hindsight, perhaps it would be more accurate if we used a milder type of symbiosis than parasitism: commensalism, since the school system is not harmed. As the host in this analogy, it has been established as a space to help us grow and develop, and in this year alone I’ve seen so much improvement in my skills and breadth of knowledge.

Yet sometimes it feels as though the costs outweigh the benefits. Junior year is notorious for being difficult due to a plethora of external factors: advanced classes, leadership positions, sports–everything all at once. Bad assessment grades and piling homework become a weight hanging over students’ heads, straining their resolution as they struggle to keep up. 

So why do students continue to persist in their studies, from relentlessly studying in high school to obtaining college degrees, when sometimes it seems to be all for nought? 

Why do students stress so much about school? (Image credit: Freepik)

One answer, of course, is the continued pursuit of knowledge–whether it be to specialize in a specific area of expertise or to simply learn as much about the world as humanly possible in the span of a lifetime. More influential, however, is the incentive of academic validation. 

Like the little bursts of dopamine that keep casinos open and Instagram reels trending, academic validation is the reward system that keeps us going all through grade school and continues into the workplace–the promise that we are extraordinary and have potential to do great things. It’s there in elementary school report cards: “A bright student, a pleasure to have in class.” It makes us tie all of our self-esteem to school and the path of success. 

Students continue to chase that high as they get older, and it becomes a sudden shock when the classes get harder and grades get lower–like being dumped over the head with ice water–and school turns into a huge source of insecurity.

Academic validation is the way the school system holds power over students, but it is up to us to remember that self-worth is not determined by any one factor, least of all a simple percentage.