7 Best Motivational Movies For Students
Are you feeling stuck in the rut of daily mundane life and not feeling motivated enough to study? Well, you’re not alone in this. With the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and educational institutes being closed, students are getting the shorter hand when it comes to studying online.
Now that students have to study alone behind computers and laptops online without much physical interaction with the outer world, it’s easy to lose motivation, especially when you need to juggle your academic work, extracurricular activities, social life and family obligations altogether.
To surf the tidal waves of life’s demands without feeling deflated or zapped out of energy, you require some good pick me up. Here are the 7 best motivational movies from Hollywood that can help you to energise your tired soul:
1. Stand and Deliver (1988)
If you’re a lover of the “out of box” learning concept, you should watch this motivational movie. Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante, played by Edward James Olmos.
An optimistic mathematics professor pushes his dropout students to study and advance their studies by using unusual teaching methods. Over the course of one year, they are transformed into students who gained so much knowledge that 18 of them passes a rigorous college credit calculus exam, which only 2% of students can pass at a national level.
Stand and Deliver is a terrific source of motivation for everyone who wants to study in unconventional ways.
2. Dead Poet Society (1989)
If “seize the day” was a movie, this teen drama film would be it. Dead Poet Society is a 1989 movie starring the late actor and comedy icon Robin Williams. This motivational movie is set in 1959 at the fictional elite prep Vermont boarding school Welton Academy.
The movie narrates the tale of English teacher John Keats, who inspires his students via poetry instruction. He urges his pupils to explore their life to the fullest. The Dead Poet’s Society will force you to push past the boundaries of normalcy. After watching the film, you will begin to notice the subtle pleasures in life.
3. Good Will Hunting (1997)
Another Robin Williams flick that will inspire you to discover your hidden talents. Starring Matt Damon and the late Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting is a moving story of Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon), a janitor at MIT who is exceptionally brilliant in mathematics. The film eschews simple solutions in favour of emphasising the complexities and suffering of personal growth. The film eschews simple solutions to highlight the complexities and despair of personal growth. The journey to self-realisation is difficult but not impossible, and the movie encourages you to confront your flaws.
This 1997’s motivational movie is all about having the strength to change, let go of confining ideas, and become a better version of yourself.
4. Legally Blonde (2001)
Who says blondes are stupid? The famous blonde girl Elle Wood (played by the phenomenal actress Reese Witherspoon) proves that blondes are far from being stupid by showing how hard work and sheer willpower can help you overcome any challenges life throws at you in 2001’s Legally Blonde.
Elle Wood overcame her self-doubt to get admission to one of the most renowned institutions in the country — Harvard. This encouraging film also includes an amazing study montage that demonstrates that hard effort finally pays off. This film is an excellent method to remind yourself that you have more potential than you realise.
5. The Pursuit of Happiness (2006)
Directed by Gabriele Muccino, this biopic features Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith as the real-life entrepreneur Chris Gardner and his son respectively.
The narrative of the movie centres around a poor salesperson who works hard and gradually progresses up the social and professional ladder. Will Smith plays the protagonist, who works hard to provide for his son and earn a better career. The movie is both encouraging and a vivid illustration of the truth that you can actually achieve anything, regardless of what life throws at you.
6. Freedom Writers (2007)
Freedom Writers, starring P.S I Love You fame actress Hilary Swank is a motivational movie about a young teacher, played by Swank herself, who motivates her troubled students to continue their education after high school.
She must deal with her troublemaker students who are racially divided in the crowd, opposing instructors, a failing marriage, and a financial crisis.
The young teacher inspires everyone that there’s a life beyond high school, and by working hard, anyone can pursue higher studies and defy any obstacles they face in their life.
7. Life of Pi (2012)
Survivors and great entrepreneurs of the century have one thing in common — the power of resilience, and that’s what the movie Life of Pi is about. Helmed by Ang Lee and starring Indian actors Suraj Sharma as Pi, and Irfan Khan as the older version of Pi who narrates his ordeal about how he survived a shipwreck and was marooned in the Pacific Ocean aboard a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger for companionship.
The movie tells you to be resilient and perform your best even when life throws you into a tight corner (literally). Learning to co-exist, not giving up, and keep moving on no matter what life throws at you are some of the lessons Life of Pi can teach you. If you ever feel that you want to give up, watch or read the novel that this movie is based on, you’ll be renewed with a new zeal to overcome challenging situations in life.
