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Student Union
 Joshua Huff |
Stop whining and get
your priorities straight!Yes, it is true that teenagers live busy lives with full schedules. Yes, it is true that teenagers have very little free time and are stressed. Yes, it is true that teenagers can be over-exaggerating drama queens. But they bring it all on themselves.
It seems that teenagers are under more pressure to perform today than ever before. Teens will hear about the importance of getting the right SAT or ACT scores, getting that 4.1 cumulative GPA, being class president and captain of the basketball team and volunteering at a homeless shelter, and they will most likely be reminded of the importance of these things from the start of their seventh-grade year. Don't kid yourself. You know that it's all to get into the "right" school. The schools that carry the most weight when viewed on your car bumper, the schools that sound nice to name-drop at your high school reunion. The schools named Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford.
So what, you say. That "so what" is exactly the way I've felt about all the essays I've been seeing my peers write lately. All of their essays seem to try to sway teachers into thinking that they give students an insane amount of homework that would challenge even Doogie Howser. The students whine that they have lives and extracurricular activities that they can't participate in because their Advanced Placement and Honors courses bombard them with too much homework.
Somehow, these kids think they are obligated to take on a million things. And, by doing so, they think they have the right to complain ad nauseum about how burned out they are. Yes, adults have drilled the fact that they must have stellar academic reports and world-changing extracurricular slates in order to go to Columbia. Therefore, teens aren't entirely at fault, but it is ultimately up to teens as to how much they take on. It is obvious for one to say that all of these talks from "mentors" greatly affect teenagers who want to wear the shirts of the most prestigious schools on their chests, but maybe teens should rethink their schedules if they feel overwhelmed.
I once was in the same boat, and I still do complain about an excessive amount of homework and trying to juggle that with my extracurricular activities. But when I put all of the homework and after-school hours spent working on various extracurricular activities, I am able to put these things in context. I realize that my "full plate" is all in search of a way into the colleges that I dream of attending. I'm willing to sacrifice sleep, band practice and going out with friends to fulfill my goals.
Teens need to understand that they shouldn't take on an incredibly challenging course-load and chair 14 different committees for the student council unless they really want to. They should be able to enjoy the activities they do and not just participate in order to get USC and UCLA to look at them. True, colleges do love kids who challenge themselves and are involved in the community, but if you're not happy with your quality of life, then there really is no point.
It's not uncommon to hear kids being told by adults that the teenage years are "the best of your life" and hear teens reply "I can't enjoy them; I'm too busy." Again, kids are missing the point. If they feel they have too many things to do, they should cut some of their extracurricular activities. School should always come first, and I don't believe that volunteering at the Humane Society should ever be an excuse to get out of a homework assignment. If teens find themselves leaning on that crutch all too often, maybe they should rethink just what colleges they'll be applying to, because above all, colleges want students with good moral character who have their priorities straight.
In the end, keeping one's sanity is more important than attending a "prestigious" college, regardless of how good its name would look on the bumper sticker on your Toyota Camry.
Joshua Huff is in the 11th grade at Moanalua High School. Student Union runs Thursdays.
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Student Union is a forum for Hawaii's teenagers to tell the community what's on their minds and in their hearts. It appears every Thursday, starting today. We welcome opinions of no more than 700 words on any topic. Please include your name, address and phone number. E-mail to letters@starbulletin.com, fax to 529-4750 or mail to Student Union, Editorial Page, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813. For more information, contact Jeff Finney at 529-4735 or jfinney@starbulletin.com.
