Overachievers

I think it is jealousy. I hear this term to describe students that do their reading, study and make good grades. It is always the students that are just barely passing that call others overachievers. It is frustrating.

I think calling a nursing student an overachiever is a misnomer. We have to make good grades and that sometimes means putting in a lot of time studying and making the grades. It's not trying to overachieve...it's trying to make it as a nursing student so we can become successful nurses.

That's kind of what I was thinking, too. The ones I've heard using the term seem to have a difficult time in theory and lab...The ones they talk about turn their work in on time, make good grades and know the right answers when they get called on. It's not like they're doing anything super abnormal! LOL

I usually think of an "overachiever" as a sort of unhealthy/unrealistic person - someone who isn't satisfied, no matter how well they do. I enjoy being successful, but I also know when to give myself a break and do better next time. I think overachievers can lose that balance.

I think a lot of times people use this term because they somehow feel inferior to the person whom they believe they are insulting (although I perceive that term to not be an insult...). If someone called me an overachiever (and my friends have 'joked' a time or two that I am) I would---I have--laughed it off. I actually take it as a compliment. I'd rather be an 'overachiever' (which in my mind I equate to being tenacious) than lazy. Now that is one personality trait that I CANNOT stand.

I think a lot of times people use this term because they somehow feel inferior to the person whom they believe they are insulting (although I perceive that term to not be an insult...). If someone called me an overachiever (and my friends have 'joked' a time or two that I am) I would---I have--laughed it off. I actually take it as a compliment. I'd rather be an 'overachiever' (which in my mind I equate to being tenacious) than lazy. Now that is one personality trait that I CANNOT stand.

Agreed!

...I perceive that term to not be an insult...). If someone called me an overachiever (and my friends have 'joked' a time or two that I am) I would---I have--laughed it off. I actually take it as a compliment...

Me too!!!

i've been called an overachiever. i used to get a's in all my pre-req's now i get mid-high b's. if that's overachieving, i wish someone could smack that into my brain. as for the brown-nosing thing, i've heard that too, because i sit at the front of the class during lecture, having meaningful relevant discussions with the instructors, and i take the 30 minutes i'm given for lunch and not 50 minutes to well over an hour.

My boyfriend fondly calls me an overachieving nerd, and I am cool with that! I am sure some people probably think that I am a brown-noser, too. I do like to talk to my professors, though (most of them anyway). If it's a subject I am interested in, I like to listen to someone who is an authority on the subject, sometimes even outside of class for a few minutes. I have always enjoyed learning things, and if it makes me a brown-noser that I don't roll my eyes at half the things a professor says (like many of my classmates), then I guess I can just be an overachieving brown-nosing nerd!

Where I'm from, pretty much only the 'overachievers' even get into nursing school. They take the top of the top so when you actually get to nursing classes, everyone was 'number one' wherever they came from..so they are used to that. Some people are okay squeaking by in class, but most don't want to lose their #1 status... so you get a lot of competition.

I don't know, I think if I were in a position to be a patient, I would pick an "over-achiever" nurse instead of a nurse who gets by! Also, if I were an employer, etc. I'd pick the overachiever. Overachieving should not be put in the same place as brown-nosing or other character flaw stuff...pretty narrow thinking there and not very fair. Some overachievers are obnoxious, some barely get-by-ers are obnoxious...being one doesn't equal the other.

I didn't used to get As or care too much about performance until I realized my passion to become a nurse. I'm now an overachiever and proud of it. And nope, I don't brag, nor do I tell people about academic or job accomplishments. It's just personal accomplishment/happiness, purely mine.