With twenty seconds left in the game, the computer you’re playing against only has half a life, and you’re determined to win. As you’re about to make your final move, the robot makes a stronger move and you lose. Enraged and confused, you throw your controller on the ground and think about how annoying and rigged the game is, especially after all the effort you’ve put in.

Numerous students have the same feelings toward school, and life in general. Countless times I’ve been agitated at how much effort I have put into school and friendships, only to feel like I haven’t done enough. The stress and pressure that many students have with their hectic schedules and school, dealing with life on top of it all, can be extremely overwhelming and overbearing. Many times we just want to give up, feeling as though life is rigged like a video game.

While it is true that at some points in life pressure is good, and can motivate us to accomplish our daily tasks, many times there is some much that students can’t take it all on. This can lead to students feeling as though they need to be perfect, which is far from possible, leaving students feeling even more drained. 

At such a young age we are put into schooling and told that we need to do good, that our future depends on it. And at five years old, it may not sound difficult, adding singular numbers and counting to z, but as we get older, it only gets more difficult. The words that adults put into our head at the premature ages of five or six can lead to unhealthy thoughts, even years later as we become young adults. Many times I’ve felt fearful, because it seems that my whole life depends on how well I do as a teenager. 

Sometimes I find it as though the way life works doesn’t make sense. We get one shot in our life to go through school and get passing grades, to assure that we can have good lives in the future. But isn’t that unfair? Of course after high school there are options to get a GED or jobs that don’t require high school diplomas, but why is that all some people are allowed, just because they struggled as a teenager and couldn’t pass a couple of classes. 

As a teenager, I shouldn’t feel like everyday is a struggle just because I can’t get my math homework done. The pressure students receive from their teachers, parents, or friends is almost constant, leading to over stress, which isn’t good for anyone. Sometimes the profuse amount of pressure leads to me wanting to stay home all day and play video games, but those aren’t any less rigged than life seems.