While previous reports of students feeling higher and higher levels of stress were met with a little bit of resentment from the general population, recent tough times for everyone has made looking upon the student plight with sympathy a little more plausible. A generation expected to earn a post-secondary degree, many students put themselves through the pressure and the stress of applying to college, only to forget that the minute the degree is handed to them, so is a great deal of crippling debt, debt that usually cannot be paid off by the caliber of job that most people fresh out of university are able to land.
More than just a snide joke that those successful business students crack at the expense of clueless liberal arts majors, the pressures of students are more and more real. First, there is the inflated sense of importance of getting into a good school that starts as early as junior high, and usually kicks in particularly strong in high school. Guidance counselors report more and more children under the age of 18 who are, quite simply, freaking out about their futures, even though they are technically still children. The amount of essays, standardized tests, and then additional standardized tests that are required to apply to university are overwhelming and somewhat mind boggling for high school students.
Most mental health professionals agree that worrying and pressure in and of itself is not something that should be eradicated, but that it only does good when it is appropriate and teaching a lesson. Students are under so much pressure from such an early age that it is not teaching good lessons about stress and coping, but rather, is getting them wound up about all of the wrong things and expending a great deal of their energy thinking about these wrong things instead of focusing on actual troubles at hand.
The biggest thing around the corner: student debt. The minute that most students finish those degrees, the first thing they have to do is start paying back the money that they owe either to banks, the federal government, or even sometimes the university itself.
This time to pay back loans comes right after graduation, for which many students had to do a great deal of work, including preparing a thesis and completing vast loads of coursework. In the rush of all of the final touches of student life, many forget the fact that the real obstacle out there in the real world is getting a job and not getting swallowed up in debt, and that process can start just months into life in the real world.
This sort of life transition is hard enough when there's a surplus happening, but in such a dismal economy, every little misstep can lead towards an even more dismal fate. For those who are not going to immediately find work, it can be devastating to learn that a business degree would have helped, but knowing a computer skill would help even more. Add to that the fact that so much of a liberal arts education actually puts a focus on how great it is to overthink everything, and you have overthinking, underqualified 20-somethings running around, screaming in existential terror. Not a pretty picture, indeed.
As unfortunate as it may be, many students are going to have to grow up faster and faster now that things are in the state that they are in. The only shame is that many students, already burnt out from all of the stress of getting into a good school and staying in that good school, aren't going to have the energy left to handle things like debt and student loans immediately after completing their course of study.
As much pressure as students have been experiencing since grades began to get inflated and landing a spot in a freshman university class became an epic endeavor, the new world that awaits them after graduation is even more stressful. Because while a professor might excuse a late paper, it's going to be a lot more difficult to convince someone from a collection agency to do the same thing if your entry-level job is not providing you with enough money to live comfortably and pay off your student loans. - 31377
More than just a snide joke that those successful business students crack at the expense of clueless liberal arts majors, the pressures of students are more and more real. First, there is the inflated sense of importance of getting into a good school that starts as early as junior high, and usually kicks in particularly strong in high school. Guidance counselors report more and more children under the age of 18 who are, quite simply, freaking out about their futures, even though they are technically still children. The amount of essays, standardized tests, and then additional standardized tests that are required to apply to university are overwhelming and somewhat mind boggling for high school students.
Most mental health professionals agree that worrying and pressure in and of itself is not something that should be eradicated, but that it only does good when it is appropriate and teaching a lesson. Students are under so much pressure from such an early age that it is not teaching good lessons about stress and coping, but rather, is getting them wound up about all of the wrong things and expending a great deal of their energy thinking about these wrong things instead of focusing on actual troubles at hand.
The biggest thing around the corner: student debt. The minute that most students finish those degrees, the first thing they have to do is start paying back the money that they owe either to banks, the federal government, or even sometimes the university itself.
This time to pay back loans comes right after graduation, for which many students had to do a great deal of work, including preparing a thesis and completing vast loads of coursework. In the rush of all of the final touches of student life, many forget the fact that the real obstacle out there in the real world is getting a job and not getting swallowed up in debt, and that process can start just months into life in the real world.
This sort of life transition is hard enough when there's a surplus happening, but in such a dismal economy, every little misstep can lead towards an even more dismal fate. For those who are not going to immediately find work, it can be devastating to learn that a business degree would have helped, but knowing a computer skill would help even more. Add to that the fact that so much of a liberal arts education actually puts a focus on how great it is to overthink everything, and you have overthinking, underqualified 20-somethings running around, screaming in existential terror. Not a pretty picture, indeed.
As unfortunate as it may be, many students are going to have to grow up faster and faster now that things are in the state that they are in. The only shame is that many students, already burnt out from all of the stress of getting into a good school and staying in that good school, aren't going to have the energy left to handle things like debt and student loans immediately after completing their course of study.
As much pressure as students have been experiencing since grades began to get inflated and landing a spot in a freshman university class became an epic endeavor, the new world that awaits them after graduation is even more stressful. Because while a professor might excuse a late paper, it's going to be a lot more difficult to convince someone from a collection agency to do the same thing if your entry-level job is not providing you with enough money to live comfortably and pay off your student loans. - 31377
About the Author:
Damian Papworth understands from experience, how a college consolidation debt loan can help alleviate one of colleges pressures, money. He offers free information on the subject at the College Consolidation Loans website
