School, of all the things in the world, I probably have a love-hate relationship with it the most, as I'm sure many people do. We start school from early ages and we are in school until at least 18 years old, assuming you don't pursue higher education. For those of us that attend college, we know how great it can be. You make new friends, begin a new educational journey, and if you're lucky you could study in another state or country. With all the perks that come with being a college student, the opportunity to grow into an adult and gain some type of independence draws us more than the education.
Now we all know what the purpose of school is. Parents have been stressing it for years, and teachers have reinforced the notion countless times. Education is the key to a successful future. No one can take your education from you. If something else fails, you'll always have your education to fall back on. An educated mind will never suffer. We've heard these and many other education clichés, and at this point, we get it.
School isn't always positive, and sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming.
Being a student is such a mental commitment and at certain points, it can encapsulate one's mind and lead to stress. The negative effects of stress on a student can be too much and sometimes I wonder if it's necessary.
Take December here at St. Johns, for example. We just returned back from Thanksgiving break a few weeks ago and with the only two weeks left, we are studying and taking finals. Talk about your stress. Between the constant studying, test-taking, and reviewing, we are bombarded with crazy work. Even when you've been keeping up with your classes, and work, finals represent the culmination of a semester's learning and it stresses us to no end. I, for example, have six classes I'm taking this semester and that means six finals. Due to my hectic schedule, I had some decisions I needed to make in order to organize myself.
I had to decide how much time I had each day for each subject. Then, I needed to prioritize my studying according to my most difficult finals to my least difficult. I haven't even mentioned the fact that I tutor three days a week, and during my breaks, I'm studying. As a student, this affects my mental health because now I'm constantly worrying if I've dedicated enough time to studying.
The race to get the best grades possible is a turning point in the semester. We are talking to professors constantly trying to find out how we can get the best grade. We're working on papers that will be graded once we leave and we'll never know what we got and why we got it. One of my quarrels is the meaning behind final grades. Are they the final test grade, or class grade? You can't even answer definitely because it varies by teacher.
We are told all year how important it is to do well, and the number of people we're competing with for jobs in the world. Constant reminders of real-world responsibilities don't help all that much. Oh yeah, imagine being Finance major and you're learning about interest rates, you have student loans. No one is saying you should hold our hands in college or feel bad for us, but do understand our mental health is affected by not just grades, but the school as a whole.
I don't know if I'll "make it" and get that "dream job". But I will not sacrifice my mental health for any reason. Take everyday as it comes and work as hard as you can. Success will find you, stress will avoid you.