HOW EQ CHANGES LIVES

The SITUATION

The landscape of education is constantly evolving, but one aspect remains unchanged: the intense pressure many students feel to succeed academically. It can be an emotional rollercoaster for young people in their studies and personal lives. Therefore, providing them with the necessary tools to gain new insights into their capabilities and learn how to deal with pressure effectively is crucial. By doing so, they can overcome challenges and achieve success.

In 2018, the CEO of a K-12 school district hired ThriveVance to facilitate a presentation in a course about the importance of understanding oneself while navigating through life for 11th and 12th-grade students.

The SOLUTION

Dr. Rostami Aftahi at ThriveVance is an expert on emotional quotient (EQ). She designed and presented this course, which included conducting EQ assessments on the students she taught and offering a one-hour 1:1 assessment debrief to each student.

The RESULTS

Each student wrote a paper during the week after the class, and EQ debriefs sessions describing what they had learned and how they implemented the insights they gained. The students reported significant improvement in managing their anxiety and pressure to succeed in the present and future. One School track team member mentioned that he greatly benefited from completing an EQ assessment, which helped him deal with the pressure of competing in the National Track and Field Championships just days later.

In the preliminary round of his running event, the student-athlete performed unsatisfactorily and felt dejected. However, he barely made the semifinals and missed the finals by just 0.01 seconds. Despite his disappointment, he participated in the School's relay team the following day. The student-athlete turned to his EQ profile and suggestions, saying, "I had to take the focus off myself and put it on others. My motivation to run that race on Saturday after the disappointing results Friday was to run for my teammates and to do all I could to help the team win."

That day, he ran a personal best in the relay. The team's overall performance qualified all four of them for All-Star status. The student-athlete became convinced of how vital understanding oneself is in life and athletics and said that EQ is equally important in all situations to IQ.