“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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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
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.
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
Students entering college for the first time become concerned with their college life. The students are on their own once they enter college. There are no parents or guardians telling them when to do homework, when to go to bed, or how to eat healthy. These students are now responsible for how they are going to succeed in school and meet their own needs. From the beginning, these students wonder what their experience is going to be like and are they going to handle the demands of 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
Although written in the 1850’s, the societies portrayed in the books share similar characteristics to modern day society. For example, society expects too much of high school students. A New York University study claims, “Nearly half (49%) of all students reported feeling a great deal of stress on a daily basis... Grades, homework, and preparing for college were the greatest sources of stress for both genders. A substantial minority, 26 percent of participants, reported symptoms of depression at a clinically significant level”(“NYU Study” 10). Evidently, there is a rise in stress levels among modern students. One can attribute this to the pressure schools and colleges put on kids. Colleges want to see students participate in extracurricular
The 'Secondary Further Education Students Feel Financial Pressure? Guardian News and Media. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/nov/06/further-education-funding. Lederman, Doug (2005). The 'Stand Pressure on College Prices?
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
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.
What are the challenges college students are facing today? Students are under a lot of pressure
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.