Confronting, not Cutting, the Corners of our Life: Academics

By Rishabh Thadani

Have you ever felt held back by that one test score that determined your fate or existence? Well, you’re not alone. Academic pressure is a prevalent issue in our generation, as education is widely known as the backbone to having a successful life. But specifically, how do individuals with diseases such as scoliosis cope with this preconceived notion? In this article, we will explore famous individuals who have found ways to avoid subduing to these academic expectations and instead forge a life of their own liking.

Rewinding a few years back, Stephen Hawking suffered a disease called ALS, causing him to have an abnormal spine curvature that mimicked the challenges of scoliosis. This caused him to face criticism in his life, such as people perceiving flaws in his scientific work and was blamed for his theories about the existence of blackholes. The sad part about this is that people were taking advantage of his physical stature and believed that they had the ability to prove his ideas wrong with no logical backing whatsoever.

Nevertheless, Hawking persevered through this criticism by developing various technologies that demonstrated the success of his findings and writing numerous books that contained evidence to prove his claims valid. Remarkably, this resistance should not be known as an event that forcibly pushed Hawking’s ideas into being accepted by society, but rather as a source for self-advocacy and dedication to one’s beliefs, despite any backlash that they may face. Indeed, this is a very hard trait to hone within one’s personality, but it can be proven to be effective if one truly has passion and love in their hard work.

In conclusion, it is not to say that a test score is a petty matter in comparison to Hawking’s experiences. In fact, we should first embrace our determination to succeed prior to giving the test, and then evaluate our mistakes and devise ways for improving upon them. As they say, the only constant in life is change, so we should accept that and continue to strive for success.

Works Cited

https://news.sky.com/story/stephen-hawking-the-genius-with-a-funny-side-11289582 https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/disappearing-pod/stephen-hawking-and-the-mist ake-that-made-his-career/