The Insane Amount Of Pressure On College Kids Needs To Stop

Stressed, tired, upset, depressed, anxious, & constantly running on purely coffee and energy drinks.
This is the epitome of what it means to be on emotional overdrive.

But why must it be this way, in my case for college kids?

We shouldn't relate to one another about being in a bad mental state because of where life has put us.
There shouldn't be memes regarding depression, anxiety, and stress that we all laugh along with because we relate to it too much.
It shouldn't be a "college kids life" to be broke, tired, stressed, and most likely getting sick 3 weeks out of the month.
It shouldn't be a normal stress to be freaking out if there is any uncertainty for our futures, especially if we are undeclared and/or officially a declared major until we finish requirements.
Job hunting so that we have a job under our belt before we graduate.

My one high school professor was talking to us before we graduated. He was talking about how they have changed the quote for a college education from: "higher form of education" to "job preparation."

These things shouldn't be normalities, yet we have constructed a society that runs off of one thing.

Money.

Now, I cannot be the only sitting here thinking that that is messed up.

We have been trained all through high school to prepare for college and to build a resume where you'll get scholarships and get into those schools that are "reach schools" for you. In college, we are lectured to build up a resume and get all those credits in so that you can find internships that will fast track you to a job.

We are expected to take on five/six classes, a job to earn and save up money, have a social life, network and make good impressions, get good grades, have good relationships with family, stay healthy with good dieting/exercise, know what your major is and what jobs you would want to pursue, and get 6-8+ hours of sleep each night.

This is a lot of pressure to all balance for 18+-year-olds to keep up on. We are just learning how to be living on our own. We will trip up here and there. We are all still figuring it out, so why is there an insane amount of pressure to have it all figured out? Anyone in this world that says they have their life planned out and that they have it all together is lying. No one has it figured out, we are all living day by day piecing it together and trying our best to get it right.


Now, believe me, I do believe there is a healthy version of competition that can be good for everyone. I also believe it's beneficial and very good to get a job for learning social skills and getting a taste of what being in the workforce will be like after college. We can push to aim higher and go farther.

But how much should we push ourselves?
And to what extent? What do we have to sacrifice by pushing ourselves to such an extreme point?
We shouldn't be competing with one another if we are all running the same kind of race.

What happened to solely living in the moment of things? What happened to enjoying the day you are in and not constantly planning for tomorrow?

That's why we have to step back and realize that it's okay to not have the answers today. It's okay to not always get an A on that exam. It's okay to not have a declared major yet. It's okay to have an off day and have a mental health day. It's okay to feel bummed out and allow yourself to have that moment and then push yourself back up to try again.

Resilience shows greater character than perfection any day.
You'll figure this one out, stop allowing people pressure you to be something. Be something because you want to.