We as students are often put under extraordinary pressure. On any given week, the tunnel vision of academic and co-curricular demands turn feeling overwhelmed into a given, and in constantly comparing our performance to others, in and outside of Masters, we often feel inadequate and unsatisfied. We hold ourselves to exceptionally high standards, but it’s easy to forget our accomplishments and overemphasize our failures because negative feedback stands out more in our minds, leading to a sense that we are always falling behind others.

In 2016, Business Insider named Masters one of the 25 most elite boarding schools in the country, but what is that supposed to mean to us? When we set our sights on Ivy League schools, on achieving things that will only ever be accessible to very few, we lose on just how much opportunity we are surrounded by, on how much difference we can make in each other’s lives.

But we don’t have to sell ourselves short. There are certain moments when our power to be forces for good in this world reveals itself. Whether we always get the grades we desire or not we can still reach out and support friends in need, whether we win every game or not we can still get better each time we play. We should take time to appreciate ourselves and our accomplishments. All that we should ever feel like we are responsible for is our best, and that should never come at the expense of our mental health or personal wellness.

As Masters students go from freshmen to seniors, they often undergo a personal journey to discover what they want out of life for themselves. They experiment with what they enjoy, they explore different groups of friends, and they come to realize what their innate strengths are. We as a school should undergo this same journey, and learn how to be comfortable with ourselves the way we are.

We go to one of the best schools in the country. Not because anyone told us that, but because here we learn how to be complete people and think for ourselves. Education isn’t about grades, it’s about the personal growth we each experience while here, and we should always judge ourselves by that standard alone.