A few months ago, I started an initiative titled “The Prism Project.” Through it, I hoped to shed light on the downfalls of the present-day education system with personal, first-hand stories of students who grew up experiencing the system.
At first, things moved slowly. I received a few stories about backstabbing for the sake of grades and class rank and some submissions about rampant cheating and academic dishonesty.
And then came a series of posts that tore me to pieces. I created this outlet to understand and share what may be going wrong inside and outside of schools, but what I discovered was something much, much worse.
“In the fall, I started my college career at one of [America’s] top schools,” one submission stated. “And I thrived up until winter came. I was very engaged in all of my classes and finished fall semester with a 4.0. I couldn't believe it — a perfect GPA at such a hard, demanding school.
"Well winter came. And I finally broke under 16 years of academic stress … I went off the deep end. I went from being the perfect child to being a drunk, a hard drug addict, a literal whore for money and an academic failure headed for a 2.1 GPA this semester with two failed classes.”
This post terrified me because the system we have created is one where a “breaking point” is possible, even inevitable. A breaking point that takes a strong, intelligent and determined individual and turns him into one who can barely recognize himself.
So, I decided to do some research. There is no way that this is a widespread problem, I told myself. I was wrong.
A simple Google search yields dozens and dozens of articles. “Student burnout” is the name given to the phenomenon — the tendency for modern day students to feel overwhelmed and unable to meet the constant demands thrown onto them by their educational environments.
Student burnout has become such a common problem that many universities have academic support and counseling centers that focus on treating its symptoms, some of which include: long term fatigue, intellectual exhaustion, inability to learn or retain additional information, unwillingness to study further and an overall decline in academic performance.
But why? Why does this happen in such large numbers? And why is this something that is relatively new to the world of education?
Year after year of endless work and expectations are followed by busy summers that are no less stressful than the months that preceded them. Middle school was about creating a foundation for high school. High school was about doing as much as possible to impress colleges. And, for the vast majority of us, college is a repeat of all of these things.
Now, what does this say about the education system we are in? And what can we do to change it?
We are forced to watch as the modern-day education system desperately attempts to win what's become a cutthroat arms race against the "good, better and best.” We push ourselves to get that 4.0, to keep up with all those extracurriculars, to learn, to study and to achieve.
We push ourselves to keep being the best. We pull all-nighters for a few more points on that final exam and drink coffee to hardwire our already exhausted brains. We try and try and push and push only to get to a point where our brains and our bodies hit the emergency brakes.
And then we crash.
Sunidhi Ramesh is a College sophomore from Johns Creek, Georgia.
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