Redefining Success for Today’s Students With Ana Homayoun & Jennifer B. Wallace | SXSW EDU 2025 Rewind

In the race for perfect GPAs and prestigious college acceptances, we've created a culture where students define their worth by their latest grade. At SXSW EDU 2025, education leaders Jean-Claude Brizard, Ana Homayoun, and Jennifer Breheny Wallace challenged this mindset during their session Essential Skills for Cultivating Healthy Student Achievement.

The Problem with "Faulty Finish Lines"

Ana Homayoun identified our obsession with "faulty finish lines"—artificial benchmarks like making varsity as a freshman or gaining admission to elite universities.

“These faulty finish lines create a harmful illusion that missing one milestone means missing out on success altogether. This culture of hyperachievement starts young and leads to stress, burnout, and a fragile sense of self-worth among students.”

Ana Homayoun
Author, Speaker, Academic Advisor, & Executive Director, Luminaria Learning Solutions

Wallace contextualized this within broader societal pressures, noting that unlike past generations, today's families face significant economic uncertainty. However, this pressure to perform has had negative impacts on student mental health. Research shows students in high-achieving schools are two to six times more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders compared to their peers.

“Students attending schools with high AP offerings and a college-bound culture often feel they are only as good as their latest achievement. We're not just talking about academic stress; we're witnessing a mental health crisis.”

Jennifer Breheny Wallace
NYT Bestselling Author & Co-Founder, The Mattering Movement

The Missing Piece: Executive Functioning

The solution begins with prioritizing executive functioning skills. Organization, planning, prioritization, and emotional regulation determine a student's capacity to thrive both in school and beyond. Attendees were asked to explore a new definition of achievement: one that prioritizes skills over grades.

Executive functioning skills correlate with better outcomes across multiple domains:

• Stronger mental health and resilience
• More positive relationships
• Greater workplace readiness
• Better long-term academic performance

For educators and parents, the message is clear: we must expand our definition of success beyond test scores. By teaching executive functioning alongside traditional academics, we prepare students not just for achievement but for meaningful, sustainable lives.

Watch the full Featured Session to learn more about how you can redefine success for students:

Watch SXSW EDU 2025 On-Demand Content

Take a look back at SXSW EDU 2025 and relive exciting Keynotes, Featured Sessions, and more, now available to watch on our official YouTube channel, plus listen to hundreds of audio recordings in the schedule.

Stay tuned for more information about registration and participation opportunities for SXSW EDU 2026 coming later this summer.

Photo by Andy Wenstrand