Numbers don't define us

by Kelly Beischel PhD, RN, CNE

I saw a fantastic commercial yesterday.

Maybe you’ve seen it. Women are shopping for jeans in a retail store. (Do you know any woman who loves this task?) These women look for their sizes on the tags inside the jeans. The sizes are not available.

Instead, the salesperson asks if she can measure them to determine their size.

Now, you might cringe at the thought of this but please read on.

The numbers on the tape measure have been replaced with adjectives like “Awesome” and “Strong” and “Beautiful.” When the women hear these words they snap up the jeans and run to the dressing room to try them on.

It’s fun to watch these women animatedly parading in and out of the dressing rooms. Their happiness is palpable. One laughingly said, “Hey. My jeans just complimented me today.”

These women weren’t necessarily thin. They were just beautiful women – radiant from the inside out.

The commercial concludes with the camera zoomed in, focusing on a tag inside the jeans. The viewer reads,

“You are more than a number.”

Sappy? Maybe. But, my smile was on full watt.

Because ever since my son’s “number” sent him spiraling into a depressive episode nine years ago, this became one of my mantras. In fact, you can often find me telling students, “Numbers don’t define you. You are more than a number.”

Yet, the reality is we are judged every day by our numbers:

  • The number of manuscripts we publish.
  • The number of students with A’s and F’s in our classes.
  • The score on our GRE’s and MAT’s.
  • Our GPA to get into a graduate program.
  • Minutes it takes us to run a 5 K.
  • The number of hours we work.
  • The number of courses we teach.
  • The KR 20’s (reliability scores) on our tests.

…..I could go on forever; you get the picture.

I don’t disagree that we need an objective measure for success, one that’s valid and reliable. But, at the end of the day, the number is just that, a number.

But what’s difficult for me to reconcile is this. I’ve noticed improved learning outcomes from students who focus on learning rather than a number on a test. And subsequently, better numbers on tests.

The million-dollar question is how to get them there.

Let’s begin a dialogue. Have you noticed the same? What strategies do you use to divert your students’ focus from being number hungry to learning hungry?