BY: BLAIR BAPTISTE, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Many modern college students, including myself, continue to fall victim to “Grind Culture.”
According to slang.net, Grind Culture is the belief that people must work hard and be productive to prove their worth. This idea is integrated into many parts of our society, especially in media campaigns college-aged people are familiar with.
Take popular clothing and apparel company Nike for example.
In 2018, Nike released an ad campaign called “Rise and Grind,” and it certainly wasn’t their only first campaign to push grind-culture messaging. They have other campaigns with titles like “No Excuses.”
And Nike isn’t the only company to use that phrase or others like it in its campaigns. Similar phrases can be found on coffee mugs, clothing and even packaging for other products.
The prevalence of Grind Culture and related messaging makes many feel like perfection is the standard. It gives the modern college student the impression that others have their lives together, and they should too. It makes that modern college student feel insufficient.
Society also perpetuates this idea, even if unintentionally. According to a 2022 PBS article titled “How Today’s Highschool Student Face High Pressure In a Grind Culture,” college acceptance rates continue to decrease, forcing prospective college students to find ways to make themselves stand out. We apply for impressive internships, volunteer, join a myriad of clubs and maybe even try to play a sport — all just so that we’re much more appealing to colleges.
Movies and TV shows also force this Grind Culture mentality onto us. The main characters have achieved a blissful balance. They tend to have a seemingly riveting love life, good friends, and they do way more than the average person in 24 hours. All of this makes the modern college student work harder, push themselves beyond their limit and suffer from burnout sooner.
Unfortunately, I’ve succumbed to grind culture as well. I constantly compare myself to others my age who seem to be doing more. It makes me believe that I am not doing enough. Even though I maintain above-average grades, I work two jobs and still have a social life. I feel like I need to join clubs to be more involved, go to the gym every day and travel so I can post on social media to pretend my life is perfect. However, I’m not perfect. I have my bad days, I suffer from acne and do not have society’s definition of a perfect body.
It is time that we open up about the effects of grind culture and stop subscribing to it. We should not feel guilty for going out with friends or spending time with family instead of working on assignments and building our portfolios. We also shouldn’t chase the dream of having a perfect life because the truth is: We’re all faking it until we make it.
baptisjq22@bonaventure.edu
