With college decision season here, pressure is at its peak.
Some students feel the pressure to go to college after high school.
“I feel the pressure about going to college and going into a successful career,” Abigail Custer, junior, said. “I think this pressure stems from the fact that when our parents were younger, they had to go to college if they wanted a successful future, but that is not so much the case now as things have changed and evolved.”
Another student agreed.
“I think the pressure comes from older generations because there were even stricter expectations for them,” Peyton Owen, junior, said. “I think students are pressured to attend a college because that seems like the only option they have, and they are told they won’t be successful otherwise.”
Students feel that they are not alone because their friends are also feeling the pressures of attending college.
“People try to encourage students into going to a college by making them think it’s the only way to be financially well off,” Neal Barker, sophomore, says. Â
 “I think that students are pressured into attending college because the expectation in this day and age is that if you don’t go to college you won’t find a good job that you can advance in,” Custer said.
One student attributed peer pressure for some of the pressure students feel.
“Students are deeply encouraged by the teachers to attend college,” Brandon Brooks, sophomore, said. “Peer pressure is also a big part of it.”
Students believe that going to college has become the expectation for high school graduates.
“I think it has become the expectation because it’s no longer the traditional route to go straight into the workforce or do something different,” Owen said.
Another student thinks the expectation stems from the opportunities presented by going to college.
“College gives you an abundance of careers that would be unavailable without college degrees,” Barker said.
