People look back to their college days to remember all the positive things that happened. Meeting some of your best friends, partying, living independently for the first time. One thing that people don’t like to think about, though, is the constant stresses of school. It seems like college is a constant stress situation. No matter what part of the semester it is, college always seems to be kicking your ass. I for one, have never been as stressed as I am right now. I have tests everyday, projects and papers due, and I still need to balance everything else in my life to coincide with those things.

College kids don’t get recognized enough for dealing with the stresses of school. We only get judged based on a letter grade.

To start, I know a lot of people think college is a joke.

Some people think that putting yourself in that much debt is ridiculous, and while that may be true, I believe college is crucial. You’re never going to be able to get those types of people on your side. There are also those people that think college is easy. They look at your weekly class schedule and laugh because it “Can’t be compared to a forty hour work week”. While my fifteen credit hour class schedule may not look like a lot, there is a lot more underneath those fifteen hours that are never talked about. I bet you the stresses of the classes outweigh the stresses normal people deal with.

Yes, working a forty hour work week is a pain in the ass, and fifteen hours of class a week doesn’t seem like much, but you must consider the amount of homework, studying, and pressures that are included within those fifteen hours of class. On average, I have to give four hours a week to each class for studying and doing homework. So I may be sitting in class for only fifteen hours a week, but add on another twenty hours a week for studying and doing homework.

Another thing that others don’t understand is the everyday pressures of school.

Older generations don’t believe that stress actually exists.

The pressures that they had to deal with back then, can’t even be compared to the pressures that college kids have now. It seems like every little grade for every class will determine the overall grade for that class. If I were to miss one homework assignment, I’d feel horrible because it would really hurt my grade. All semester long I worry about if I’ll pass my classes, and If I can maintain a high GPA. If I fail to succeed in my ambitions, it adds even more stress about getting my degree. All any college kid wants is to succeed, and this generation is pounded with pressures some people will never have to endure.

College is about a lot more than what you see on the surface.

Personally, I always feel like there is a giant rock on my back, and it won’t go away until school is over. Every decision I make in school determines my level of success for the future. That type of pressure is hard for a twenty-one-year-old to maintain, but everyone has to deal with it. For that exact reason, college students should get more credit for getting through the difficulties of college.