Weaknesses as a Student: What Are They and How to Overcome Them

Are you familiar with a situation when you know exactly what is wrong with your learning path but still cannot change a thing? Have you ever felt helpless while having all the instruments for improvement? Yeah, we all have been there. But here is the possible resolution you need: you see the fragments of problems without seeing the whole picture. To break free from being the squirrel in the wheel, you must honestly name, face, and embrace your weaknesses as a student. Managing your coping mechanisms, resilience skills, and learning difficulties will bring more consciousness into your daily choices. This article will help you see your student weaknesses clearly and develop effective self-improvement strategies. An Overview of Student Weaknesses: How to Understand Which Weaknesses You Have We don’t want to throw some common weaknesses on you and call it a day. Let’s do it strategically. Let’s see what YOU think your personal weaknesses are before comparing them to the common ones. The main problem with students’ weaknesses is that they are usually complex. Academic weaknesses intervene with psychological issues and the lack of self-management. As a result, the student is overwhelmed and lost in all challenges. A student’s guide to identifying personal weaknesses What are your weaknesses as a student? Here are some questions to find that out (they may not be what you think): Do you have an approach to overcoming challenges? Do you have a plan on what to do if everything goes wrong? Can you name five of your constant academic struggles? Why do they continue happening? Are there any background classroom challenges or personal issues behind these struggles? Are there any patterns and clusters of your academic struggles? Can you categorize them? Have you tried any self-improvement strategies yet? Did something work? If not, why do you think that happened? Are your weaknesses related to studying itself, time or resource management, or psychological issues? Now, you can go straight to reading the next header. Or you can take this possibility as a life-coach session, take a piece of paper, and answer the questions above. The three most common weaknesses among students However untypical it is, the most common of students’ weaknesses are not academic struggles. Students suffer most from the lack of self-awareness to overcome challenges. Here is how that issue manifests: Students fall into complex, unhealthy routines. First, the student typically skips a meal. Then, he (or she) manages to operate on two hours of sleep daily. Later, psychological struggles appear as a result of poor personal health care. Finally, all these challenges result in academic struggles. Congrats, the student now has four global intertwined problems with little chance to untangle this knot. Students concentrate on academic growth, ignoring personal development. Taking care of your soft skills and self-management is much more important than caring about remembering the information. The paradox is that you can’t learn efficiently if you don’t learn how to learn first. Students value short-term benefits over long-term ones. What is common for the chronic party-head who misses half the classes and a student working around the clock with no life whatsoever? They both will face the consequences of poor life balance quickly. No matter what side of the scale you are on, long-term goals win the race. When you think of student weaknesses, these three are probably not the first to come to your mind, right? But here is how more well-known challenges arise in these three issues: Most Common Weaknesses as a student How Common Student Weaknesses Influence Academic and Personal Life It is not rocket science to conclude that the lack of personal development, classroom challenges, and learning difficulties do not contribute positively to anything at all. However, students may not associate diverse problems with their weaknesses. Hence, the most common causal relations between weaknesses and their influence are as follows. Academic consequences of untreated student weaknesses: Constant, repetitive, and specific academic issues. For instance, if all of your teachers highlight your lack of attention, you probably have a problem to work with. The development of secondary problems and unhealthy coping mechanisms. For example, your weakness is note-taking. You may treat it by asking your classmates to check your notes each time instead of working on your skills. Now you have two problems: poor note-taking AND dependence on others. Severe decrease in grades, overall performance, and academic excellence. Naturally, if you let your weaknesses grow bigger, they do. And they will take over the place in your mind reserved for your achievements and personal development. Weaknesses in students impact their psychological well-being It’s not rocket science to figure out that negative academic consequences lead to increased psychological issues. Here are just a few of them: Lower self-esteem, feeling like a failure Highly increased stress and anxiety. These two progress to depression in extreme cases Inability to cope with new challenges, falling behind in all life areas Decreased student resilience to illnesses, decreased immune system regulation The lack of energy to work for the improvement of the situation How to Overcome Student Weaknesses: Best Strategies to Try Case studies for your inspiration: overcoming academic weaknesses Case #1. Erin Gruwell and Freedom Writers The original story differs a little bit from the retelling. However, both the film and the real story of Freedom Writers tell a lot about the role of education and overcoming weaknesses. Sometimes, our weaknesses are not our fault. Sometimes, we become trapped in situations we did not choose. But there is great hope in the fact that our weaknesses are also our biggest strengths once we overcome them. The case of Freedom Writers teaches that one way of overcoming challenges as a student is to seek your voice.