The Motivation To Excel In School Among Filipinos Aged 18 And 19 Years Old

There are infinite reasons as to why people are motivated: people are motivated to work hard to be able to feed their families. People are motivated to go to the gym to achieve the body they have always dreamed of. People are motivated to wake up in the morning because they have this reason to live, so on and so forth. But also, sometimes the motivation to do things can be more than just one reason.

In this research that I conducted, 16 Filipino students were interviewed as to why they are motivated. The scope and limitation of this research includes students who are 18 and 19 years old, who are Filipinos, and who came from the institute of Meridian International Learning Experience, and are graduates of batch 2018. Furthermore, the question that was given to them to answer was, “What is your motivation to excel in school?” There were many similar answers but there were also super specific ones that were somewhat personal and unique only to the participant. 87. 50% of the participants had at least two to at most six reasons, while the other 12. 50% had only one reason. After the survey, the answers were collected and were grouped accordingly. The most popular response came from 13 students out of the 16. 81. 25% of the participants mentioned that their motivation to study was to honour and give back to their parents.

One female participant who is 19 years of age said, “I’m not rich enough to “wing it”--- I love my family, and a good way to ensure I can contribute to their lives in the future is to get a degree and get a job. I don’t have the luxury of wasting someone else’s money to ‘find myself’ or pull a Steve Jobs and drop out. I want them to know that I am serious about shouldering some family responsibilities, and this is my choice. ”The second popular response that came from 50% of the participants was their motivation to have a successful future and to achieve their careers and dreams. The third type of motivation that was brought up by the participants was the love for learning. 37. 50% of the participants gave this answer. Three even mentioned that despite failing their subjects (because it is only a part of the process) it was really the love for learning that motivated them. One mentioned that he wanted to excel because he wanted to transfer to a better university, while one female mentioned that she really wanted to finish her studies. The fourth type of motivation that was brought up by 18. 75% of the participants was to challenge oneself. A 19 year old male even mentions that, “(exceling in your studies) gauges your capability--- a sense that you are capable and able to move to a higher skill or knowledge. Because if you’re just mediocre, you would not know much of your potential, plus it’s like you got low confidence that you’re going to pass a semester, or maybe in your profession. ”The following types of motivation was brought up by 12. 50% of the survey population.

First was because these females were inspired by someone and so they wanted to excel, second is because these males believe that they need to practice self-discipline and that it is only a student’s responsibility to actually excel in what they are doing, and lastly they wanted to excel because they wanted to maximize learning and the opportunities presented to them. A 19 year old female says, “I want to exploit college stuff--- libraries, teachers, aircon, free places to sleep, scholarships, field trips, internships, exchange programs, gyms--- why not abuse the system you’re paying for to build yourself right?” The last types of motivation that was brought up by 6. 25% of the survey populations were the following: to be productive, for school requirements, so that they can be useful in society, for experience, and to uplift their nation. Many of the mentioned motivations did not come as one but by pairs, and mostly it’s connected to honouring their parents: they wanted to finish school, they wanted to be useful in the society, and they wanted to be successful in life--- because they wanted to honour their parents. Many reasons to be motivated to excel in school but it mostly boils down to the root of serving one’s parents.