“College Pressures”, by William Zinsser, describes some of the biggest pressures college students are faced with in today’s society. Some of those pressures include: Developing time management skills, study skills, the desire for good grades, meeting parent expectations, and finding employment in a competitive job market after graduation. All college students struggle with the same stresses and use the same excuses as to why they need more time to get certain assignments done. Today, there are four main pressures that are seen in college students: Economic, parental, peer, and self-induced pressure.
Economic pressure is a pressure that most college students battle today because of the brutal tuition, boarding costs, books, and fees. Most college
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students end up working part-time or full-time jobs in the summer to make money to assist in paying for loans and other expenses at college. Parental pressure is equally as bad as economic pressure because most students do not end up going to school for the career path they want to take, but more so for what their parents want them to. Because it is their parents’ money, students feel obligated to do what their parents want them to. The amount of pressure put on students because of this situation is severe. Students often times find themselves truly torn between their parents and the decision they should make. Peer pressure and self-induced pressure are intertwined, yet all college students find themselves pressured by both. Peer pressure is brought on by those surrounding you. So, if one student is to see other students working hard it will make them want to work hard as well. Self-induced pressure is the pressure brought on by yourself. By joining a club or organization, which takes up most of a student’s free-time, causes self-induced stress. Although, there are many different forms of pressures that students face at college, all students can be successful by finding their own path to their own destination. After reading “College Pressures” by William Zinsser I better understand the pressures college students face.
I find myself in agreeance with Zinsser’s argumentative text. He states that there are four different types of pressures that existed in the 1960’s that still exist today. I feel as if his essay clearly states those four pressures while also giving readers the insight on different scenarios college students face today and how they compare with those who went to college back in 1960. One thing he mentioned was, most college students get either a part-time or full-time job during the summer to help pay off debt or loans. I find this to be a true statement because most students do take out student loans to help pay off their debt which then puts them under pressure. The other pressures that Zinsser mentions in his essay are peer and self-induced pressure. When talking about peer pressure Zinsser mentions that this causes oneself to be guilt-tripped into doing more work than what is necessary because some other student is doing more. This can be seen as an issue for the professor; however, there may be other situations that are worse. Personally, I find peer pressure to be the pressure that affects students the most. Zinsser compares self-induced pressure between the 1960’s and nowadays. In the 1960’s, students would have balanced their schedule between extra-curricular activities and school work; whereas in today’s society, students are limiting themselves by forcing them to keep their extra-curricular activities to a
minimum. In Zinsser’s essay, one pressure led me to a disagreement. He stated that college students are faced with parental pressure. When students are faced with this pressure it makes it hard for them to choose a career path due to the fact that their parents are trying to set their future for them. However, I disagree with him in saying that most college students face this pressure because I think it is becoming more common for students to be forced to pay for their own schooling. No matter who pays for a student’s schooling, I believe that it is the student’s success that matters. With that being said, I feel that every student should be able to choose their own major in hopes of it leading them to the career they want. With finding the career of choice, I hope that it leads them to find many successes in their life.
In their texts Both Zinsser and Barber are questioning the conventional assumptions that college is the main passage into a financial and social accomplishment. To achieve these goals students are often faced with unnecessary pressures. Their purpose or reason for challenging such assumptions is to make the readers become aware of the conventional notions, and possibly direct them out of their trapped positions to make their own choices. As today's students will be the potential future leaders and make-up of the society, there is a high stake. In the past the society has accomplished to thrive the students into the clichés and false assumptions about college that exist today, nevertheless this accomplishment has opened a door for some critics like Zinsser and Barber to come up with a different view on college education and pressures that can well be the next conventional assumption in the future.
From the beginning of high school, students strap on their seatbelts and prepare for one of the most vigorous races of their lives – becoming successful. With the rare occurrence of a break, kids are expected to keep on driving as fast and as powerfully as they can in order to get into a “great” college, which would be followed by graduate school and then an actual job that would make a lot of money. In American society, common values include working hard, determination, and being so productive that free time is not even a question. However, this philosophy is taking a major toll on American college and high school students. For at least 40 years, America’s future has been steadily growing unmotivated, tired, and hopeless due to the overemphasis on performing well in school. This phenomenon is appropriately expounded in William Zinsser’s “College Pressures”, which takes a look at the top four sources of tension that cause these feelings of dejection and agitation. After reading this article, I came up with a few solutions to this national problem. It is time to switch the harsh, over-encouraging green light of education to a comfortable yellow one. In order to make this ideal transition, directors of education across the country need to primarily reduce the amount of out-of-class assignments, lighten the grading system, and incorporate days in the school year that allow students to express their thoughts about school and provide useful feedback.
However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they
In fact, “a determined student, even encountering hardships in his/her life while attending college full time, will succeed” (Culpepper 330). Also, many professionals successfully graduated college while dealing with hardships such as “raising children alone, working in multiple jobs, and caring for sick relatives” (Culpepper 330). They showed commitment by staying focused on what they wanted to achieve in their lives. An overloaded student accomplishes his/her tasks by organizing his/her daily schedule, not allowing more than one activity developing in the same hour. Also, the student has to allow for himself/herself recreational time as a reward, for that will balance his/her overwhelmed lifestyle.
Zinsser, William. “College Pressure.” The Norton Reader. 13th ed. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. New York: Norton, 2013. 380-388. Print
In the essay, he states that he sees “four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” (398). He goes on to explain what goes through the minds of college students when dealing with the four stated pressures as well as academic pressures. While putting the thoughts of college students on display, Zinsser emphasizes the stress that they are forced to succumb to due to the stated pressures. He explains, “Today it is not unusual for a student, even if he works part-time at college and full-time during the summer, to accrue $5,000 in loans after four years--loans that he must start to repay within one year after graduation. Exhorted at commencement to go forth into the world, he is already behind as he goes forth” (400). In the quote, Zinsser explains the economical aspect of the four listed pressures. He clarifies that most students who pursue higher education do not graduate unscathed from school loans. He then questions his audience on the rationality of a college student going through school without thinking about the large sums of money that must be repaid by them: “How could he not feel under pressure throughout college to prepare for this day of reckoning?” (400). This description helps Zinsser effectively explain to his audience the hardship of dealing with just one of the four pressures he enumerated. Zinsser also uses rhetorical questions to let the audience know that he respects their point of view but also to further his own point. When explaining how parents would rather their children enroll in courses that will lead them to a financially fulfilling degree, Zinsser answers the question that audience members are thinking: “Where’s the payoff on the humanities? It’s not easy to persuade such loving
Zinsser’s work entitled “College Pressures” intent to expose a critical flaw within the educational system, in hope that it will encourage students to relax when it come to their academic success. Zinsser’s is doing more than illustrates a difficult situation, he is enforcing new ideas and principle just as: academic freedom and freedom to explore career opportunities without judgement and criticism from the school system and their parents. By enforcing these principle Zinsser’s hopes to awaken a new era where students are free from pressured sales tactics from both parents and society when come to academic success.
Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life. The first is the financial aspect of college. Second, is the relationship between the professors and students. Third is time management. These three factors play an important role in why people are afraid to go down the path to college.
It may conclude that student who pay by student loan feels more pressure to getting a job after graduate to be able to pay back for the loans. This motivates them to study hard because they realize that how much the importance of academic performance to get a job.” What does this mean? Those who are having to use loans are more pressured to find a job and work to pay off their debt, seeing as how it could last a lifetime and are having to work hard to maintain financial aid. Yet, for those who go to college with their parents funding their education, there isn’t as much pressure to succeed because the family has the ability to fund
What are the challenges college students are facing today? Students are under a lot of pressure
Imagine going home, knowing that you have a ton of homework due the next day, as well as tests to study for. This already seems pretty bad, but if you have extracurriculars to do that day, the stress piles up. The time that you’ll have to finish your work from school is decreased, and by the time you’re done your extracurriculars, you’ll have less energy to finish your studying. I told you all to picture this in your head, but most of you don’t have to. This is because you have probably experienced it almost on a daily basis everyday after school. Have you ever wondered why we go to bed so late, and why some of our teachers don’t? Have you ever thought about how much stress we’re all under, in comparison to how much stress our educators have? Has it ever crossed your mind as to how high are expectations are from everybody and why our mentors don’t have to live up to them? I’m sure at least one of these have crossed your mind a couple of times before. Students of our generation are expected to handle way too much stress for our age; so much that we may even be working harder than our teachers! Honourable judges, teachers, and fellow students, with all due respect, today I am going to prove exactly why us students work harder than our teachers.
In college, students want to maintain good GPA and be successful. William Zinsser is a journalist who taught journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School and wrote College Pressures. When writing College Pressures,
Heibutzki, Ralph. How Lack of Time Management Affects College Students. Demand Media, 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2013
Students began to stress themselves out because they are worried about making and maintaining a respectable grade. As teachers push students to go to college, the pressure surmounts because now they believe that getting the excessive homework done on time is the only way that they will go to college. Also, an increase in stress leads to health related problems such as high blood pressure, and can affect the sleeping patterns of students. As a result, students now complain of headaches, and many students fall into depression because they are not able to cope with the added pressures of school, more so, excess
The academic pressure is one of the major stress factors in my life. The academic environment is very competitive and everyone wants to be the best. Not only are am I competing with my peers, I am also competing with myself. I always want to exceed my expectations. Which can cause me to become anxious at times. The academic pressure has many sublevels to it. Making excellent grades, homework, projects, essays, online work, class scheduling, exams, and many other aspects that are involved with school.