Getting Caught Up There

Before you read the rest of this “article,” you should know something about me. I’m a high school student. And as of now, I’m an angry high school student. Some more background information — I go to Cupertino High School in Cupertino, California, the home of a advantageous, horribly competitive culture that is the causation of Cupertino’s nasty student stress problem and my current anger. Here are a few of the things that I have heard. If you’re not from Cupertino, some of them may seem a bit out of this world. If you are, then …

If I don’t get an A, I’ll end up flipping burgers.

No. You won’t. Cupertino’s high school culture has somehow warped people’s perspective way, way out of proportion. Yes, your grades matter, but to what extent? As a high school student, I still don’t know. But I guarantee to you that they don’t matter that much. It’s terrible, yet funny that a large number of people have this worldview in a place where logic and learning is so preached.

All my friends are also my college competition.

We’re surrounded by the shadows of giant colleges like Stanford and Berkeley. And many people are told by their parents and peers that they are directly competing with their classmates to get into the same colleges, which leads into this never-ending, tumultuous academic dogfight where, in some cases, people try to put others down just as much as they try to push themselves up.

Ha. You’re going to end up in community college.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS NOT A BAD THING. Some people just need to get that into their heads. Over and over and over again I constantly hear community college being categorized as a horrible way to “end up.” It’s really not. Community college is a great, cost-effective, way to explore the future in a college setting. Some people need more time, and you have to respect that.

He’s doing it. I have to too. Otherwise I’m not as good as him.

We’re surrounded by all these cliché posts on social media that say things like “Be Yourself,” “Stay true to yourself,” and on and on. Our parents and peers say it too. Maybe there’s some truth in it? That’s a rhetorical question. Just clearing that up.

But seriously. Cupertino’s high schools are becoming a breeding ground for a backstabbing, advantageous, extremely stressful culture which is forcing students into depression. Yes, there are good things about our school system, but something definitely needs to change.

People just need to remember that they’re human. And others are, too.