*Before you start reading the 500 words I put together in this formation of sentences take 3 seconds right now, close your eyes, and breathe.*
Day in and day out I wake up at 6 am waiting for the sunrise to turn my dark lonely triple dorm room into the life-filled room that is capable of entertaining myself and my friends.
The sun comes peering over the horizon slowly changing the dark light-speckled sky to various hues of blues, pinks, and yellows. This mesmerizing scene wakes me up every morning and I am grateful I found a free source of destressing right outside my window.
I am assuming that if you are reading this, you have the time on your hands to sit and focus so I want to use this time to talk about something far too serious to ignore.
Stress is the dominating factor in almost every college (and high school) student's life. Due to the high parental expectations we are forced to live up to and the social standards we are supposed to agree too; it has become increasingly hard to just be a "care-free" American teen in this busy American society.
Not every college student has the luxury to just "stop stressing" and honestly we are expected to have far too many responsibilities to not be living in a pool of stress. Not just from ourselves either, we also accumulate stress from our peers, our parents, and our future selves.
I attend a very expensive university located in a very very very expensive city and; frankly, I am way too young and far too smart to be worried about:
1. my future and how I want to be living in my ideal "adult" world.
2. my classes which require about three and half hours of my physical (and mental) energy in class and an additional eight hours a week outside of class.
3. my social life and if I want to live up to the societal pressures that come with being in college.
Along with these three main issues, the biggest stressors for most is the availability of food and opportunities in the city of San Francisco. Food at my university is limited and costly; forcing students to search for food off campus.
With the added expenses of books/materials for class, entertainment to stay sane, food to stay alive, and all other life essentials we need to live; most college students need to find multiple sources of income. This doesn't even include the hundreds of thousands of dollars most 18-22 year-olds have collected over their years trying to pursue an education.
Since we need to accomplish all of our daily obligations in order to solidify/maintain our futures none of the issues mentioned above can be de-escalated because they are required for us to live up to society's expectations of us.
Many people like to say this generation is simply lazy when in reality we are some of the hardest working people in this nation. We are expected to seek opportunties and responsibilities in the adult world in order to perfect our own personal crafts. This means searching for the industry that works best for us and the society at large but still we can't even get a little time to slack off and binge watch netflix.
The lack of relieving stress naturally has caused young adults to turn to socially acceptable stress relievers such as drinking and doing drugs as a way to have fun and forget about the busy world they live in.
The question I wanted to pose is if this is a modern American issue or has instances of overworking young adult been engrained in our history in this country and around the world?
Do you believe college is too stressful for young adults to balance living their lives and experiencing the world while getting their credentials through their education?
Leave a comment or look into the daily lives of teens all around you and ask them if they are genuinely happy or if they are stressed out about something persisting in their life.
