Students may face many challenges throughout their academic career, and what motivates them to push through varies from person to person and even from gender to gender.

     Freshman Chase Owen’s pressure to do well in school comes from his future plans to go into the medical field. However, he holds himself back from advanced classes.

     “I don’t try hard enough. It seems too difficult, already. I find normal classes enough, I think if I took an advanced class it would just be too much for me to handle,” Owen said. 

     He explained that he is worried about failing, as he is not willing to push himself in that way.

     Contrary to Owen, freshman Leila Abrao takes as many advanced classes as she can. She has noticed that between the boys and girls she knows, the boys tend to do worse in school.

     “They don’t try a lot, and they just mess around most of the time. I’d say they don’t have the best grades; they aren’t in any advanced classes.”

     She speculates that the girls around her often put more effort in compared to boys, referencing a grade check in her Bulldogs 101 class.

     “I’d say they usually group up and don’t do it. Today we did a grade check, [and] this guy was like ‘I have three Fs’,” Abrao said.

     She faces pressure from her parents to do well in school, which is where part of her motivation comes from.

     “My parents want me to go to a good college. I play sports too, and they say I have to keep my grades up,” she said.

     Abrao says that, from the friends she does have, the few boys who have good grades face pressure from their parents.

     “Most of them aren’t [motivated] because they think freshman year doesn’t count.”

     This perspective is vastly different for Freshman Connor Clark, who focuses on school even though it is his freshman year.

     “Academics are how you advance in life. I want a good career and overall, my future to be good. By striving for a high GPA (grade point average), it might not be perfect, but it’s always good to keep trying your best, because your best is what’s going to give you the best future,” Clark said.

     He has noticed a difference in gender amongst his Honors English class, where females dominate the classroom.

      “Some of the guys that I’ve seen check their grades have lower grades and don’t try as much as some of the girls. I think the guys are less work motivated, because I often see us playing games on our Chromebooks. It might be because of peer pressure, maybe their friends don’t try as hard,” he said.