My Pursuit of (Im)perfection: Rebecca DePietro ’26 Shares Tips for Letting go of Perfectionism in College

Rebecca DePietro ’26 is president of the Student Government Association at Bentley. She is a Business Economics major with a concentration in Law, in the Bentley Honors Program, a lead program manager in the Bentley Service-Learning and Civic Engagement Center and a resident assistant. 

Despite her leadership roles and natural adjustment to the social aspects of the Bentley community, DePietro talks openly about her initial learning curve when it came to college academics. “Letting go of my ‘perfect’ high school self and asking for help wasn’t easy.” 

And she’s not alone. Studies show a rise in college students who experience perfectionism, particularly when it comes to achieving high grades. It can lead to unrealistic expectations and feelings of self-doubt. 

DePietro shares her experience overcoming perfectionism and the strategies she developed to help her thrive and foster a deeper understanding that progress matters more than perfection. 

REFRAME YOUR APPROACH 

For me, college academics required a total mindset change: I had to transition from being perfect. In high school I flew through 10 AP [advanced placement] and two ECE (early college experience) classes and got all As — and I thought I would easily replicate that in college. But when I started classes, it was different from what I anticipated.  

My first semester in an introductory economics course I struggled to understand material, even if I read 10 times. When I had my economics midterm about a month later, I realized I had retained little information.  

I broke down. I began to worry. I didn’t really know what to do. I had learned about on-campus resources during Orientation, but I didn’t want to ask for help. I figured I could just spend a couple extra hours studying, and I’d be fine, as that had worked in the past.  

Even though the extra studying didn’t work out and my final grade reflected that, a turning point did come toward the end of the semester. I had joined the Model United Nations club and made a friend who happened to be really good at economics. I’ll never forget how we spent three days in the library studying for the final and I ended up getting a good grade on the test. No, it didn't give me an A in the class, but it did keep me from failing.  

More importantly, that experience taught me that there are people around me who are willing to help. I began to surround myself with people who cared about me and who wanted to see me succeed. By surrounding myself with people who wanted to work hard and achieve similar goals, no matter what struggles came along the way, I found myself doing better both socially and academically. Slowly, I became more willing to ask for help and access other resources too.  

LET GO OF PERFECT

As I work with students in my resident assistant role, I’ve learned that I’m not the only one who feels compelled to be perfect. I’ve had many late-night conversations with my Baby Falcs [first-year Bentley students] who question themselves or worry that they won’t have a 4.0 GPA. I always try to remind them that it’s not that they aren’t successful; it could be that a course is not a great fit for them, or the workload is different from what they’ve been used to. Change can be hard, particularly at a competitive school with new people and new standards.  

Letting go of perfection takes practice and these strategies have helped me and other students I’ve talked to: 

• Ask for help.

  It’s OK to let someone know you’re struggling to understand or adjust. They can likely share strategies or point you to another person who can help. 

• Get to know professors. 

  They want you to succeed! Drop-in hours create a space for you to ask questions or get to know each other better. Office hours are there to help you, and they are not something that you should be skeptical nor ashamed of. 

• Talk to classmates or people on your floor. 

  I remember one group of students on my floor who bonded over the difficulty of a course and ended up studying together. I always try to introduce myself to classmates during the first few weeks of class. 

• Access on-campus health and wellbeing resources. 

  The Bentley Counseling Center, for example, offers in-person and online resources (which can remain anonymous if you want). SP&E [Student Programs and Engagement], Residence Life and the Multicultural Center are all located in the Student Center, where there are a multitude of resources. 

• Join a student organization. 

  The friend I met in the Model UN club helped me study for my economics final. Bentley is a small enough campus where if you make one connection, it typically leads to a lot more. Student organizations can also lead you to meet extraordinary people who will be there for you not only in college, but far beyond!  

• Practice self-care. 

  This is always a work-in-progress for me! Stress is part of life and the college experience but it’s important to find time to relax, whether it’s taking a walk, binge-watching a favorite series, hanging out with friends, going into Boston or attending a sporting event. Don’t forget to show yourself compassion. 

As a goal-oriented person, I believe in aiming high and working hard to get there. But I’ve learned that my GPA is not the only thing that defines me. As long as I know that I can demonstrate that I’ve worked hard, gained knowledge and skills, and can recover from mistakes and challenges, I’m empowered to reach even higher — and have the confidence to get there.