One of Pleasant Valley High School’s main mottos, ‘Striving for Success’, highlights the desire of students to succeed. Yet, it fails to recognize the adversary students face in maintaining the motivation required to achieve that success.
The constant stress of college applications, standardized testing and maintaining a high GPA has taken away from the high school experience.
Instead of taking classes for enjoyment , students are pursuing (sometimes overly) vigorous academic paths.
The motivation of students has been misplaced in recent years, an effect of COVID-19 and the lack of sincerity in schools. Many students do not feel ownership over their work or accomplishments, especially when challenged with competition against their peers.
This constant competition inspired one student, in particular, to get a head start on her future career. Senior Taylor Cernin is currently enrolled in a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course that meets twice a week for five hours. “I’m taking the course because it will help me get into the nursing program, which will help me get better job opportunities,” Cernin said. “While I do enjoy it, I feel pressured to get started on these things early”. The pressures students face daily are overwhelming enough; adding on school stress is a recipe for an emotional collapse.
Especially at PVHS, where academics flourish and competition is even more aggressive. Students in advanced and honors classes compare their grades and test scores to others completely negating their personal effort. Such a cynical and comparative view on academics diminishes students’ intrinsic motivation to succeed.
Excruciating scholastic pressure is also misread as motivation. “Because my class is five hours long, I miss a lot of school,” Cernin continued. “When I get home I’m constantly tired and overwhelmed with homework”. Her narrative is not an uncommon one, many students struggle to balance schoolwork with mental health.
Likewise, students feel drained, as most determination is lost after freshman year. Once senioritis hits, the willpower teenagers were once filled with is smashed. Students are mentally consumed by the college process. Once engrossed in college preparation, students see high school as a means of getting into the university of their choosing. Nowadays, students identify the only purpose of high school as being a means of pre-college.
PVHS senior, Emily Goodpaster, varsity volleyball and recent Case Western Reserve University commit, said, “My high school life is the same, and I still need to keep up with my work and studies so that I can stay committed,” she stated. “I am motivated so that I can keep my support from athletics and academics for college”. As a varsity athlete and accomplished student, Goodpaster has done something most students grapple with: balance.
High school is so much more than a time for post-secondary education preparation. It’s a time for self-discovery and growth. Today’s teenagers are consumed in having a successful future. They neglect the essential years of exploration high school provides. Rather than being motivated to plan out their lives years in advance, students must learn to live in the moment.
