8:30 AM. The morning bell rings. It’s a sound we’ve all heard thousands of times, marking the start of yet another weary six and a half hours at our desks. It’s sad, honestly, how the one thing high schoolers can almost unanimously agree on is hating high school.
It’s more of a routine than anything. Wake up, probably sometime in the middle of first period. Sit in class. Memorize what the teacher says. Forget as soon as you’ve taken the test. Watch clock hands move sluggishly until the bell rings again.
The life of the ambitious high schooler is centered around curating the perfect college application. Choose all the hardest classes available, or you’re an underachiever. Fill your schedule with the most impressive extracurriculars, because fun is irresponsible. Compete in a varsity sport, preferably two or three. Volunteer. Study endlessly. Rest is for slackers.
11:36 AM. I mindlessly tap my finger on the desk, watching my classmates. Some take notes, others stare out the window, eyes glazed over. There are twenty-five students in my class. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, five have had at least one depressive episode this year. And we’re only sixteen.
Academic pressure is depriving students of a healthy learning environment. The competitive atmosphere present in our school pushes students to feel the need to be the best in everything, and to make unhealthy sacrifices to achieve that end. The resulting stress is overwhelming, sucking the enjoyment out of learning, making school a chore. Unhealthy academic atmospheres teach students unhealthy mindsets. We learn that our mental and physical health come secondary to school. We learn that our identity is interchangeable with a resume. We learn that the numbers in a gradebook measure the percentage of worth we deserve. If you get a bad grade, you feel stupid. If you choose an easier class, you’re perceived as less than.
This pressure comes from many different sources, including parents, peers, and most prominently, college admission. Students face expectations to get into prestigious, exclusive schools, an accomplishment that is becoming increasingly difficult.
A big part of the pressure to attend a top school stems from the narrative that the college you attend will dictate the trajectory of the rest of your life. However, this is not the case. According to Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania by Frank Bruni, in a 2011 study, researchers looked at the difference in income between people who were accepted into selective colleges and those who applied to the same schools but were rejected, and they found a negligible difference.
You don’t need to enroll in countless AP classes you’re not interested in and fill your schedule to the brim with extracurriculars in order to build a successful life. By fixating on the future, you risk losing sight of the present and missing out on invaluable experiences. High school is a time when students have the opportunity to explore fresh interests, make new friends, and have fun being a kid. That shouldn’t be sidelined. 3:35 PM. The afternoon bell rings, the automated sound reverberating through the halls. The rest of the day is free to you, so how are you going to spend it?
