I'm not giving up just quiet-quitting.

Since I started school, I've been a grade conscious student. I have been trying to achieve awards and honors, to be on top of class, and to join as much as extra-curricular activities I would love like quiz bees and journalism contests. I'm an average honor student, not an overachiever though. I've been an inconsistent honor student especially in elementary, transferring from schools to schools from different provinces, and grading systems changes, but two things are consistent — academic burnout and decline in my grades.

I noticed that though out the years, my grades are higher in the first semester (first and second quarters) than the second one (third and fourth quarters), if not the same.

This decline in my grades was highly caused by academic burnout. In the start of classes, I tend to give it all my best which burns me out. Then I just do the bare minimum, sometimes lower than that, in the remaining months of the school year which worsened by procrastination. In other words, I'm a "ningas-kugon" in every school year and slacking off as days go by because of burnout. There's an imbalance in the efforts and energy.

This is obvious during pandemic and online classes. During this setup, it's more tiring, burning out and stressful. In recent academic year, during my first year in college, I got a 1.30 GPA in the first semester and became a President's Lister. But in the second sem, I only got a 2.14 GPA. Of course, the reason is burnout. There are times, I didn't even do what's the bare minimum. In one of the subject which is Rizal, I only complied 9 out of 15 final assessments. In most subjects, I don't even study for exams and quizzes. And I don't participate in recitation and been absent most of the time in the online class. This was very far from my academic performance in the first semester in which I ensure to pass high quality school works on time, I review for quizzes, and had a complete attendance in most subjects. This phenomenon is also noticeable when I was in Grade 12, a school year in modular mode during pandemic.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a TikTok video about "Quiet-Quitting". This became a hot topic across social media. It was described by the creator as "you're not outright quitting your job, but you're quitting the idea of going above and beyond. You're still performing duties but you're not longer subscribing to the "hustle culture" mentality that work has to be your life- the reality is, it's not." The coined term might be new to the ears but I think the concept has been around for ages like in the saying "magtrabaho nang naaayon sa sahod" in workplace.

I think, in terms of school, quiet-quitting is still doing duties and activities in school but not subscribing to the "achiever" culture mentality has to be your life. It's doing the bare minimum not above and beyond, to learn and pass. Basically, it's "basta-makapasa-lang" mentality of most students.

The video became a food for my thoughts. That's why I've been thinking and planning to quiet-quit school next academic year. You might wonder why. There are numerous reasons why.

I think, quiet-quitting will prevent my academic and college burnout because I don't have to exert much energy and effort. With these there will be imbalance in energy as I stick to bare minimum. And I don't have to raise my expectations such as achieving perfect scores which also add up to my burnout when not met.

Just like what I said earlier, there are moments I'm not even doing the bare minimum. I'm not complying my school works, not completing tasks on time, being absent and tardy, and not reciting in class. With quiet-quitting, I should have done these which can prevent decline in grades. In terms of school works, my bare minimum is still greater than others. So I won't settle with less about my school works when quiet quitting and I'm still grade conscious.

Another reasons is health. The past few months, I've been cramming to complete my backlogs stacked up because of burnout. I've been skipping meals and sleeping for 5 hours or less. I lost 8 kilos, unhealthily, without working out and proper diet. Burnout and stress are also not good for my mental health and emotions. There are times that I have sacrificing meeting friends and other gatherings so I can do my remaining tasks. Overall, I want to be healthy, physically, mentally, socially and emotionally.

Since childhood, my life has been revolving around school and academics. It seems like I'm missing out and at late teen, I have fear of missing out (FOMO). I planned to quiet-quit because there are things I wanted to try and prioritize but I haven't because I'm busy with school. I want to discover more things I love, things I would enjoy. And I want to spent more time I enjoy like writing stories, reading novels, watching anime and movies.

Also, one of the reasons is I'm not sure with my path yet. I'm not sure I would continue studying Railway Engineering in PUP. I would love to apply for military or maritime academies to help my family by reducing expenses on dormitory, allowance and food (they're free) and having job security in the future. It seems like it would be a waste if I give all my effort in the university and going back to zero again when I transfer. But I would still do the bare minimum to maintain my grades so I can continue studying with my course if I decided not to transfer.

People are still torn with the idea of quiet-quitting. Some are already doing it, others don't. Since people have different goals, different views and different circumstances, for me, quiet-quitting can work for others, while ineffective for some. In my case, it would be effective for me in terms of academics.

How about you? What are your thoughts on quiet-quitting? Do you do this or you go above and beyond your work?

Source:

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSRPk9Lrp/