At this year’s Secret Life of Students, I participated in the final session of the day, provocatively titled “How to become a perfect student”.
Esteemed colleagues Tiffany Chiu and Michelle Morgan both challenged the idea of perfection, and it’s likely that members of the audience were wondering if there was such a thing as a “perfect” student.
I also find the concept of perfection to be problematic, particularly when it comes to people.
The idea of perfection suggests a state of flawlessness, with no room for improvement, which may be more applicable to objects such as a perfectly flawless diamond.
Given that people are inherently complex and multifaceted, for me the notion of a “perfect” student is an unrealistic and potentially harmful idea.
