Dear students of PHS,
Stress. The great equalizer. The Everest of academics. Burdened by classes, weighed down by extracurriculars, and crushed by college, the modern student faces an unprecedented challenge, one unknown to high schoolers of previous generations.
As any student will tell you, in an increasingly competitive academic environment, they are all too often left fractured by the demanding culture it creates. Relentlessly hounded by the demands of modern education, the common student could easily say he is stretched beyond his limit.
Please tell me more; we need to open a dialogue on this universal topic. I do want to hear about your unending struggle. I delight to explore the insurmountable anxiety you face as you pursue the vaunted admission letter. I sincerely enjoy discussing the challenges that you, the unique individual, overcome on the daily. And as a student of PHS, I can say with an entirely straight face that you are not alone. United, we can oppose the monster that is stress.
Each year, every student faces a new and unprecedented challenge, one unique to the new school year and incomparable to the last. Freshman year is like a bucket of ice water to the face, shocking 9th graders with the startling revelation of grades with significance. Sophomore year offers the first shot at truly challenging classes, a real chance of failure. Junior year defines your academic profile; watch carefully lest you botch your finals or SATs. Senior year overwhelms with the mad rush of college applications.
I do care, just as every other PHS student does. We stand together, for we too share in the stress that is never left unmentioned. Clearly we are not ready for the real world, one in which our actions have consequences. Forget an assignment at home; that is not my fault, obviously. Botch my presentation, excessive homework is to blame. Fail my tests, the teacher is to blame. The stakes grow, and it is clear that we as students of PHS are exploring a new frontier, one in which stress attacks at an unprecedented, never-before-known level.
I want my cake and I’ll eat it too. I demand the right to make decisions as an adult, but how can I be held accountable if I’m only in high school. I, like my peers, cannot be expected to succeed and prove myself if I’m given so many opportunities to fail. Trying to explain the daily struggle, I can’t even.
Resolving the stress of the student body is clearly the duty of the school; after all, they offer such challenging courses, unfairly placing an undue burden on any student who elects to sign up. If the constant conversation in the breezeway tells us anything, students are overwhelmed and unable to function, a detriment to their high school experience. After all, it’s all that students seem to talk about. It is the duty of the school and community to rectify the unbearably stressful environment that we call high school.
We as students of PHS must stand together, resolute. Taming the overbearing stress that high school places on students is of the utmost priority. The high school’s primary goal remains the mental well being of its students, academics and college-preparedness must take the backseat to overcoming this daunting challenge. Without the universal realization that taming our stress and solving our problems are the only goals of a high school education, we will never be able to resolve the universal struggle of students everywhere.
The solution is obvious. We as students need to band together. Starting on campus, and reaching into the depths of the PUSD, we need to bring about this great change. Standing strong, with the unity built from the undying conversation, we can fight the imposition of reality on our academic careers and end the tyranny of stress. Until we resolve the stress that seemingly defines every student’s high school experience, we cannot progress. United we stand strong, and united we will face this demon stress.
Sincerely,