After freshman year, I had overcome the treacherous standardized test: NWEA MAP; the relief I felt afterwards was amazing; I felt as if my stress had just begun to alleviate. The rest of my academic school years seemed surpassable. I did not have to worry about colleges and my grades were just used as a reassurance. School felt like a replica of High School Musical; it was worry-free and all giddy. Little did I know a tedious thing named junior year was waiting for me and it was not going to come at me lightly.
The media, including many critiques, seem to all have the same presumptuous feeling on the chilling topic of junior year. Not only is it one scholastic year before the infamous senior year, but it is also the year in which all standardized tests are put in front of students.
Standardized tests already have a reputation in which they are seen as stress inducing, time consuming and, most importantly, irrelevant to a student’s potential. These tests are, in my opinion, the core of stress in student’s lives. Over the years, students are introduced to tests in a way where they deem your life’s outcome.
School itself is demanding. Imagine adding two, hour long tests and hundreds of college applications on top of grades. It almost seems impossible to indulge in life during junior year because one small slip and one might ruin their life’s future. In 2013, the American Psychological Association found that students’ stress levels far exceed what they believe to be healthy and, to say the least, it tops adults’ stress levels.
The race to enter college commences junior year, and it’s a race in which not everyone is ready to run. The magnification of the importance of college is undeniably toxic and can often cause students to lose interest in their futures. Because college is very presumed by parents and by one themselves, it is easy to get lost in invalid expectations and therefore cause doubt in ability.
Students should be able to indulge in life activities without the constant reminder of their academics. Life in general should be stress free, but in this case alleviating students and taking an interest in their stress should be a priority for educators. The consequential actions of stress are what often set off educators such as the endless amount of heads down in class, and the constant missing work; it all has an origin. Seems like High School Musical did a bad job on imaging the life in secondary school.
