Stop Obsessing Over College: An Open Letter To High Schools
We treat it like the only option, and there’s almost a cult-like focus on it. Here’s why that shouldn’t be.
The path to high school was not an easy one for me. The second I walked into the stuffy basement that would become my middle school, teachers began talking about high school.
As I went through the hell that is puberty and everything associated with it, I also had to worry about having a perfect record. If I got a B in anything, I was told every door of opportunity would slam in my face.
In spring of 2019, I finally got the holy grail, an acceptance letter to my high school of choice. All of the long nights, punishments and even tears were finally worth it. Just like promised, all of my actions had finally built up to something meaningful.
And then, reality socked me right in the jaw.
I came to high school, bright eyed and bushy tailed, and I found more of the same. Beyond the weed and hecklers in the hallway, high school was the same game as middle school, just with different players.
There were still lockers, procrastinators and people getting into relationships too early, and instead of high school as the shining ray of hope on the horizon, we had college. Everyone was obsessed with college.
I had trouble finding a student who hadn’t already selected a college they wanted to go to, and all of the steps they would take to get there. Some people had even planned out safety schools and clubs they’d join to beef up their application.
I’d listen to exasperated sophomores talk about how tired they were with school already, and how they couldn’t wait to leave and get saved by college.
Schools also fed into the obsession students had with college. Just like in middle school, teachers treated it like the ultimate necessity, and told us that they have to do everything right if they wanted to get into a good college.
College is a good option, I won’t deny that, but this constant focus on it with high schoolers is not good for us. It’s causing us to develop tunnel vision on college, and block out other options for what to do with our lives when college may not necessarily be the best choice.
College is good for educating people on a very specific field they know they want to enter, but for most eighteen year olds, that doesn’t necessarily apply.
Personally, my plans for what I want to do have changed dozens of times throughout my life. I’ve gone from wanting to be a YouTuber to a journalist to a politician to a movie editor to a lawyer to a rapper, and I’m not alone in this.
Most teenagers don’t have a solid idea for what direction they want to go in with their life, and that’s okay, that’s how it should be. Teenagers don’t have a lot of experience in life, so they’re bad at making good decisions about it, especially big decisions like what college demands.
The best thing a young person to do is keep their options open, but college doesn’t allow that. Instead, you have to lock yourself into one narrow field and invest a lot of money, time and energy when it’s hard to be certain this is the right choice.
College is good, but there are other paths that might be better for some students like trade school or community college or hands-on job learning, and we’re instead telling everyone to go one way that requires young people to make a life changing decision their not ready for.
We need to stop focusing on college so much, and instead encourage students to do what’s best for them, which is to wait and experience their life before they decide it.
