There is perhaps no website on campus as popular as Atlas during this time of the semester. With backpacking season in full swing, students swarm to the site for all sorts of valuable statistics about the classes they might enroll in, especially one in particular: the median grade. Hand on your heart — when you see the median grade for a class on Atlas, is your first instinct to say, “Surely I can, and will, get more than that.” But have you ever really taken the time to step back and think about what that really means?
A median grade suggests that an individual is more likely to receive a grade near that value than not, because it represents the score half of students scored below and half of students scored above — perfectly in the middle. In the absence of outliers, medians approximate the average grade. Seems simple enough, and I’m certain you understood how medians and averages worked before you read this. Unfortunately, whether you’re talking about height on a Tinder profile or the number on a paycheck, there seems to be a common perception that anything that isn’t above average is simply not good enough. That’s where the average person is wrong.
We live in a world where information is more accessible than ever before. In theory, this should lead to more balanced discourse where the facts are objective and the opinions are nuanced, not sensationalized. However, that is far from the case, with mainstream media continuing to hyper-fixate on the extremes: the extraordinarily good and the inconceivably bad.
A good way to visualize this is to think of a bell curve. A bell curve, best described as a graph shaped like a camel’s hump, is a way to represent the statistics of a specific population. For those of you who have had the pleasure of never having taken a statistics class, here’s what you need to know: The two ends of the curve, or the starting point and ending point of the hump, are low, while the peak of the hump is high. The y-axis represents frequency. For our purposes, the x-axis represents ability or quality in that particular category. So, when the x-axis is female tennis players, you could expect Serena Williams to be all the way to the right and your freshman-year roommate who had no hand-eye coordination whatsoever to be a little closer to the left. Most people, however, would be represented near the middle.
Centuries of mathematicians and statisticians have told us that for any possible subset, only an exponentially small number of objects in that subset occupy the rightmost and leftmost parts of the curve, i.e., the extremes. The rest are average. The same can be said for humans; yet, our society is still obsessed with perfection. As a result, we seem to have forgotten a crucial fact: It requires a lot of hard work and perseverance to be exceptional. When we see all the incredibly talented people that pop up on our social media feed, we fail to acknowledge the months and years that have gone into nurturing that talent.
This leaves us in a constant battle with ourselves. No matter how much work we put in, there is seemingly always someone doing more and doing better. We undermine our own abilities, punishing ourselves for not reaching the same heights as others. While I admit that this way of thinking is difficult to shrug off, being able to break free from these expectations will change your life. Just a slight tweak in perspective, and you’ll realize all the amazing things you’re doing, even if the rest of the world or you yourself fail to see it. That is the difference between fulfillment and dissatisfaction.
Another byproduct of living our lives to somebody else’s tune is entitlement. When we’re constantly surrounded by people that we feel are superior to us, it is easy to aim to feel superior toward others. The onus is on us to not get sucked into those comparisons. Acknowledging that everyone is at different points in their lives is the first step toward learning to focus on your own journey and use that as your yardstick. The next time you think you can’t get past the average, remember that someone else’s perfection could currently be your mediocre.
One could argue that accepting mediocrity is counterintuitive. Where is the motivation to grow and become the best version of yourself if you are happy with being just average? While I agree with this train of thought, there are a few caveats. Yes, it is essential that you get out of your comfort zone and push yourself to the limit, but it is equally important to value progress above perfection. The idea that one’s hobbies or passions hold less value if they aren’t mastered is a sad yet real predicament we find ourselves in today, and that mentality needs to change.
I am not asking you to dream small. I am simply asking you to consider the alternative as a viable option. As unglamorous as it might sound, the fact remains “that mediocrity, as a goal, sucks. But mediocrity, as a result, is OK.” This quote, by author Mark Manson, while unlikely to make it into the next blockbuster Marvel film, is grounded in reality, and understanding this message means you are one step closer to leading a more self-aware and content life. Is it easy? No. It requires unwavering discipline and constantly checking ourselves when we get negatively influenced by those around us. It is hard to be that perfect, but even if you’re average at it, I promise you’ll be fine.
Rushabh Shah is an Opinion Columnist from Mumbai, India who writes about storytelling, society and community. If you appreciate his ability to sneak a sports reference into every piece he writes, you can reach out to him at rushabhk@umich.edu.