Academic Competition (Ana)

Ana's documentary based on academic high school competition stood out to me a lot for the very same reason she felt inclined to base her project on this very significant yet underrated topic. Growing up in the silicon valley as young as I could remember in the heart of Los Altos and attending exceptional schools for elementary, middle, and high school, I definitely found myself understand to Ana's main argument. A properly well made video using great graphics, informative voice-overs, and strong opinions, Ana talked about the importance of being mentally stable and well over high GPA's and prestigious academic standards. What she talked about in her documentary is true; we live and have grown up in a bubble. We live in an area where expectations are never dared to be set low, where money is vital in order to even breathe, and the competition to get into the most high status colleges determines your worth for the rest of your life. Sure, college and how we choose to academically operate in school is significant in ways that allow for us to envision what we want for our futures but there is no way that the grades we do and do not receive literally preview who we truly are. We live in an area where sleep has no name and time spent to ourselves is non-existent; we live in an area where we would rather dangerously drive ourselves insane to an excessive amount of stress and frustration. We live in an area where students are taught from an early age that we are never going to be good enough or smart enough because there will always be somebody else smarter, better, and getting into a greater college than we are. There is a lot of intense competition and unhealthy self perception that is set upon ourselves which does nothing but literally destroys our mental health. Ana's documentary made a valid point on a significant yet very hidden problem in our modern-day society.