“School makes me feel stressed, anxious, sad, dumb, tired, lonely, sick.” When you ask a normal high school student how everyday school makes them feel, this is the response you will get.

It’s no secret or surprise that school and the American education system has changed drastically within the past 50 years but not in the most positive way. The tests are becoming harder, the pressure to get into a good college has skyrocketed, there are middle schoolers taking the PSAT, we have advanced to having such high expectations for others and ourselves that it causes chronic stress on students who already have a lot on their plate.  We are taught concepts that we will never use unless we go into a math or science profession, and it’s not only students who feel like this either.

In fact, I’ve had three different teachers so far this year talk to our classes about how college is becoming such a material thing. How kids will go into college at 18 or 19 and then graduate anywhere from 4 to 12 years later in thousands of dollars of debt and in some cases still don’t know what they want to do with their lives. Also in the job field nowadays, almost everyone goes to college so that when you are applying for a job everyone has the same qualifications so you need even more education and more degrees to get that job. Plus there are only so many jobs available per profession.

The amount of college prep that is being forced upon young students has become extreme. On top of that, being told for so long that your grades are the only way you’re going to get into a good college, and if you don’t get into a good college then your life is pretty much over can be pretty damaging in the long run. On top of just grades, the amount of APs, honors and advanced classes you are expected to take is becoming a bit ridiculous, and one of the only reasons is because there are so many people going to college now days that you need so much more to get in. You need to have so much more on your transcript than someone did 50 years ago.

Personally as a junior this whole college thing is becoming a huge deal and is talked about daily in my classes. Teachers are talking about the SATs and different events we can go to get different graduation requirements constantly. And on the exact opposite end, if they aren’t hyping up college than they are extremely downgrading it and talking about how stupid it is to go at such a young age and should know what your going to do with your life.