Date of Completion

2025

Document Type

Research Project

Degree Name

Grade 12

Keywords

academic honors, senior high school, coping mechanisms, academic transition, STEM-Health Allied Students

Abstract

This phenomenological study examined the experiences of five Grade 12 students at De La Salle Medical and Health Sciences Institute (DLSMHSI) who transitioned from high honors in Grade 10 to non-honors in Grade 11. Using semi-structured interviews analyzed through Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis, the study explored challenges, coping mechanisms, and perceptions of academic decline. Students faced interconnected challenges: (a) academic adjustments: all participants encountered elevated standards (passing grade 80–85), compressed deadlines, and subject difficulty; (b) motivational shifts: 100% experienced changes in self-motivation, with 60% deprioritizing honors to protect mental health; and (c) time management: 100% struggled with rigid schedules, while 80% faced overlapping extracurricular and academic demands. Students employed diverse coping strategies, including emotion-focused, problem-focused, support-seeking, avoidance, and meaning-focused approaches. Perceptions evolved from initial distress to acceptance and growth, with all participants detaching self-worth from academic recognition, enhancing resilience, recalibrating goals, and reconstructing multifaceted identities. Findings challenge deficit narratives, showing honor loss as a result of institutional pressures, structural constraints, and conscious student choices, while highlighting the developmental benefits of navigating academic setbacks.

First Advisor

Menard C. Majaba

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