Six languages and seven clubs and three varsity letters and five instruments and, on top of all of that, an "A++" average. Crazy, right? Not as far out as it may seem, high schoolers are being held to these ridiculously high standards in the modern age of education. Despite the good intentions of the previous generation, the current generation seems to be going downhill. Ultimately, because of this highly pressurized learning environment, students are actually less eligible for future jobs and job opportunities.

"Oh, what's a fourth A.P. class when you’ve already got three?" Nags the school guidance counselor who just wants to "extend your knowledge". Yeah, sure, okay. I'll take that fourth A.P. class. They won't be too bad I'll tell myself, and guess what? They are. A few weeks later I'm called back to the office of the guidance counselor's office because they’ve noticed my grades have dropped from my normally flawless, straight A's to the horror-inducing depths of-gasp!- B+'s! Well of course they have. While trying to keep up with classwork and a multitude of other extracurricular activities that this counselor also "suggested", my grades have been shoved to the backburner and show no signs of returning to the front any time soon. The higher expectations on the modern student are at an almost absurd height; so far above a single student's head that while striving to reach upward for them, they instead end up falling down. Even after a student "falls", whether it be from grace or in terms of grades, they are continuously crushed by the heavy class load that they thought they could carry. The heaviness of the workload is compounded by the suffocating pressure placed on the student by almost everyone around them (i.e. Parents, teachers, colleges, guidance counselors, peers, etc.). The stress on students today has infinitely grown from what it was in the past and, at the rate it is going, this trend looks as if it will increase infinitely.

What are high schoolers today going to look like when they get to be sixty or seventy years old? How about fingernails bitten down to nubs, deep worry lines crisscrossing their gnarled old faces, half as many teeth than they used to have, and deep purple bags under their eyes. Basically, horrible. These common side effects of stress will haunt this generation to the end of their days. But, extreme stress can lead to other "activities" too. Activities of the illegal variety. This can tarnish if not ruin a once-perfect student's spotless record. A record that practically had a cherry on top it was so sweet. In other words; Straight A's, A.P. classes and extra-curriculars out the wazoo. Too bad it was too much and the student melted under the pressure. The cherry that was once on top, rots and falls down into the very bottom of the empty dish.

This all leads to one thing and, ironically, it is the reverse of what everyone wants. Because of the extreme workload and the extra sports and clubs, the students actually falls farther away from their college aspirations than if they had just taken the "easy" classes that they originally wanted to. Colleges look for high-ranking students and if your classes (that were chosen for you, may I add) are too hard for you and you end up not doing well, too bad for you. You don’t get that scholarship you really wanted, or into the school of your dreams. It's ok, try again next time? Except, there is no next time. It's a one-shot sort of deal with colleges these days because by the time next year rolls around, you're already old news; the new student prodigy has risen up to take the place that was never really yours to begin with. Students need to realize when choosing their classes they are really choosing their future and their future is theirs and no one else's. Not their parents, not their guidance counselor, not their teachers and definitely not their peers. Parents need to realize this truth also; they are hurting their children more than they are helping, despite their best intentions. If these two parties could realize these simple truths the students of today would be the most successful businessmen and women of tomorrow. But, if neither grasp these fundamental principles in time, the endless cycle of over pressurized and highly volatile high schoolers will forever continue, leaving only crushed dreams and tarnished reputations in its wake.