Sophia+H's+Op-Ed+Article

"Recieving a college regection letter is not the end of the world, and does not mean you have failed and can't be happy in the future." “College Craze”by Sophia H.

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Maybe I’m just the odd duck here, but I don’t understand the seemingly incessant craze about college that most of my fellow students have. As it seems to me, in their eyes the only way they can be successful is by getting into one of the most prestigious colleges, which is achieved by earning the highest grade point average they can get during their high school years. People are so focused on making sure that they get the grades they ‘need’ that they poison their high school years with sleep deprivation and stress, even feeling so pressured sometimes that they are pushed to immoral actions such as cheating off of tests and copying homework, because they ‘just can’t get it all done with everything else going on in my life.’ To a lot of people, it seems like their entire future relies on what college they get into; but most shocking to me is that they believe their happiness relies on it too. That if they do not succeed to the utmost standard of their parents, the school, and the state; that by not being the best (the quote : second place is the first loser seems to be a common mentality) in this admittedly competitive and difficult college-admissions process, they have some how doomed their happiness and ability to make something of themselves and end up having lived a life worth recognizing. Well I have a couple of things to say to these people.

First of all, I feel much sympathy and empathy for those who have this viewpoint. It really must be stressful and crazy every day if you look at life like that, and looking through your glass I admire you for pushing through. But why would you look at life so rigidly? Having one solid viewpoint in general, regardless to the circumstance, can make it so you can not turn to see what is around you; and let me tell you, there are so many beautiful and peaceful things around you indeed. There are an unlimited amount of options for what you want to think and believe, and most importantly put yourself through, since you ultimately control your decisions and reactions to events, I personally find it beneficial to believe and think something that isn’t going to squeeze the very life out of me.

But at the same time following that, I think people need to accept themselves for how and who they are more. Perhaps you are a high strung and academically-focused person who has the skills and intelligence for those top ranking colleges, and you want your time right after high school to be determining of the rest of your life. On the probably more difficult to accept end are those who simply aren’t meant to be in that type of a university. It doesn’t mean your best isn’t good enough, and saying that is insulting to yourself and twisting the whole idea of school. If you want to put it in such negative terms as that, then yes perhaps your best isn’t good enough for that particular college. Neither is the other 95% who didn’t get in. Your best is absolutely good enough for somewhere that will take you far in life, if it is truly your best. Your best is good enough for the place you were meant to go. Your best needs to be only good enough for yourself and knowing that you try has to be enough for you or else you’ll never be satisfied with yourself since there is always someone better.

High school is a key time in developing your personality and beginning to figure out who you are and how you want to be. There are so many opportunities for novel things, and many of them you may never have a chance to participate in again in your whole life. So why make is such a stressful time? Life is about balance, and in school that balance is generally between academics and entertainment. Thrown off either way, an out-of-wack balance can lead to many problems in school, and personally. STRESS IS A WAY YOUR BODY TELLS YOU SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE. If you feel like you’re life is so focused on the grades you have been ‘taught’ you need, then you need to rethink your priorities! I can assure you that if you are not happy with your stress level now, then chances are you are going to get into the same kind of college with a similar or even more intense stress level, and then the cycle will never end. Grades are not all it is about. Even for four years, you can not neglect your need for nature, art, fun, laughter, novely, and friendship. If grades start to push out these other key factors, you know there is something you need to change.

As for those who use cheating as a way to ‘keep up’ with everything you ‘have’ to do in high school that is in no way an excuse! If there is so much going on in your life that you are pushed to such measures as compromising your morality and honesty in order to ‘keep up’ then you are simply doing too much! Not everyone is meant to endure the same capacity of activities in their life, and they need to accept that about themselves.

Instead of success, make happiness your goal in life. Happiness is found by looking inside and loving who you are as a person and being pleased with your actions and decisions, and is not achieved by comparing yourself to others. The best college is not necessary for happiness, and after a certain point in life it really doesn’t make a difference which you went to. Happiness is not something only achieved through what you do in life, but it is a decision you make inside of yourself. Doing what you love in life will give you the satisfaction of a well-lived life.