7,660,737,898 people in this world. At this second. That’s over 3 billion more than 40 years ago. It’s 2019, and the pressure is on. Maybe I’m overreacting, honestly, I probably am. But what I believe must have some truth to it, otherwise, I wouldn’t be working so hard. Take university acceptance rates for example. Harvard, in 1998 had an acceptance rate of 11.8%. In 2018 it was 5.6%.

It’s hard, it’s stressful. It’s immeasurably daunting to be a teenager in this age. To learn, live, and still have aspirations of living a comfortable life with a well-paying job in what is considered a classically “good field.” The world is now this intense, unhealthy, cutthroat environment. It’s a place where I and others even go so low as to hide opportunities from friends just to make sure that we have something over them.

I take the school bus to school. I for one, am very tired on rainy mornings at 7 am, and one morning that exhaustion wasn’t helped by two people in my science class comparing grades on the chem test. We all got 97s and still complained. Ninety-seven. That’s an A+. And yet we complained about it because it wasn’t 100. It wasn’t good enough. We also talked about our course averages too, which were either 96s or 97s. Guess what, we all complained. It’s not good enough. The guy beside us was sitting there, mouth wide open gaping at how we’re so hyper-critical of ourselves, but in reality, to a certain extent, it’s necessary.

You need the best marks to even hope about getting into anywhere good. That’s what we’re taught these days. An 80s average doesn’t cut it anymore. You need a mid-high 90s average, perfect learning skills, and glowing teacher recommendations. Not just for the competitive universities, but internships, summer programs, and every other arguably necessary thing we do to get ahead. And once you do get ahead, you need to stay there. Otherwise, you fail. At least that was what I was taught, that’s what my friends were taught, that’s what it seems everyone who has aspirations for going anywhere seems to think.

It’s almost as if the standards have increased over time. Now high schoolers are vying for positions that college students would have previously fought for. There are more people competing for the same spots and the markets for jobs are over-saturated, leading to increasingly stiff competition. Therefore, we do it all. Anything and everything you can possibly do to get an edge over people who are trying to get the same spot.

After marks comes something that, in this day and age is considered as necessary if you want to get into one of the aforementioned good programs. Extracurriculars. All of the adults love to talk about how everything generation Z does is for the ‘gram, when truly, anything an academic-minded student does is all for the resume. Every. Single. Thing.

Are you interested in business? Cool! You aren’t? You still should join DECA because doing well in DECA looks wonderful on resumes.

Are you interested in medicine? Awesome! You have to do great in HOSA (Health Occupation Students of America) because that shows your aptitude for the field.  

It’s a checklist of things to do. Going into high school I had a list of clubs I thought would either be interesting and/or help me get into programs. For many people, sports and the arts are incredible ways to show well-roundedness on resumes. Showing you are achieved not just academically, but in different areas is quite in-demand. You must demonstrate an aptitude for fields outside your own. At some point in the past year, I realized this and set my energy into becoming well-rounded. It’s important too, because, like me, you might actually find yourself loving things you started just for the resume. I’ve been pouring energy into writing, I’ve volunteered on re-election campaigns for provincial ministers, I had a five-week job/paid internship at our Parliament, and I can’t even drive yet. But there are other kids doing more. It feels like you need to do need to do it all. I have some commitment every single school day, sometimes even two. And those are just the weekly ones, I have monthly commitments, ongoing commitments, and more. This isn’t just me, one girl at my school was in 13. And the only times for clubs are in the morning and afternoon of the 5 school days (yes, the math doesn't add up.)

Oh, and guess what? It’s still not enough. Did you think you can get by on just being in the clubs? You could only do that if you were in an exceptional amount of clubs but, as most people know that’s not sustainable. You have to be an executive to show that not only are you involved but that you’re the best. There are two people I know who are most definitely going somewhere. One senior, is the student council president, and a Model UN executive, along with being on other clubs. The second is an amazingly kind, smart girl who’s a junior. She’s DECA vice president, a HOSA executive, student council co-vice president, and on a whole slew of other clubs. She’s also wicked smart and was complaining about her 99 average in math.

The pressure is on, and it’s more intense than ever. It’s so easy to get bogged down by all these expectations and things to live up to, I get bogged down on the regular. It’s stressful, being a teen and having to have this full-blown high school plan because what you do now will impact you for the rest of your life. It’s nerve-wracking. I don’t know if we really need to be doing all this, none of the people who are following this path know. But it’s working for other people, and there’s the fear that if we don't do this, we won’t amount to anything. That is crushing. I guess we just have to keep at it and remind ourselves of what we’re fighting for. It’s the belief in yourself most of all, and in the fact that you will be exceptional, more than you ever thought you’d be. And you will be, no matter what you do.