It’s normal to feel pressured sometimes when dealing with tasks that are overwhelming, it’s our body’s way of reacting to such occurrences. Which is why it can be a positive quality experiencing such, it only means that as individuals we are trying and making an effort with the work at hand. Furthermore, feeling calm and in control while doing so, can help people complete tasks and achieve great things. But it does become a problem when too much pressure is occurring, that calm composure is replaced by a feeling that one is out of control which is when stress happens becoming negative and deteriorating to our overall health as a person.
1. Obsession with Grades
Don’t get me wrong, caring about the grades you are receiving is a good thing, it shows discipline and accountability for one’s actions. However when it comes to obsessively thinking about what your grades turn out to be, it becomes damaging. This sort of thinking changes the perspective of how students are learning within the educational system, as they focus more on memorization rather than deeply understanding the new concepts. Grading might have been an effective metric to determine a student’s academic performance for years, but we shouldn’t treat it as the sole metric.
2. Unable to Relax
It’s always a good thing that a student is hardworking and tries his/her best to finish tasks as quickly as possible. Simultaneously a student being able to clear his/her mind is equally important as it increases focus and learning concentration. Furthermore it helps you keep a positive outlook and continually be motivated with the activities you have to do, knowing you have leisure time for friends, family, and especially yourself. Students that are constantly pressured of educational success though usually are restless, unable to stop doing tasks even if they are already burned out. This is more damaging than beneficial as forcing your mind and body to do tasks you aren’t motivated to do, which will result in a mediocre quality of work.
3. Psychological and physical problems
Too much pressure can affect a student’s overall health, like being too stressed, always anxious and even lead to physical symptoms like headaches and sleep disturbances.
This is damaging as such is affecting a student’s daily life, and in extreme cases, it can ruin a student’s academic performance and have an opposite effect from what the pressure is trying to achieve. It ruins the student’s learning experience and will lead to a negative mindset in the school environment.
My advice for young people is to just be yourself. There's no pressure. Do what you want to do. And if you want to do something, then go after it and make it happen.” - Millicend Simmons.
The quote exemplifies the perspective of this article and my views. I believe that as students let’s not be too pressured, we’re too young for that, let’s live our lives the way we want to live it with proper limitations. Furthermore I wanted to emphasize how diverse each student is and can excel in different areas of lives. Which is why we need to take the initiative to help our loved ones not feel pressured, help them excel where they want to and not try to dictate the path’s that they lead.
