Treasure and Pressure of Becoming Honor Students

Abstract

This paper focuses on the different facets of honor students including their motives, joys, and struggles in maintaining a good set of grades. The purpose of this study is to discover the stories of students who excel academically through examining their personal accounts. With the bulk of study directed towards struggling learners, this paper, through phenomenological approach contends that students who excel in their class have their own struggles in vying for academic excellence and recognition. More than simply gearing towards Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as personal motivations, there is a deeper story behind aspiring for grade of 90 percent and above. Apparently, society plays major impact on harnessing students with academic excellence. This paper uses qualitative approach basically through interviews and focus group discussions with the purposively chosen sample. Honor students deem academic excellence important because it symbolizes the prize of their exerted efforts in complying with the demanding academic requirements of the K-12 program. By and large, the main motives of students to excel academically are their family, financial standing, and ambitions. Academically excellent students take pride in having academic recognitions because it gives them sense of self-satisfaction, pride of their parents, and sometimes, tangible rewards. However, becoming honor students means living by the expectations of the society including their family and teachers. Having a sudden decrease of grades gives honor students pressure that causes them stress. The grade of 90 for honor students may mean both excellence and standard yet, it does not signify nor measure intelligence. Also, students need understanding when they face failure especially when they are pulled out from classes for academic competitions representing the school. Being honor students does not also mean being safe from bullying from their classmates.