I’m a high school student in 2025, and have seen many different people in many different stages. I have amazing friends, I’m involved in extracurriculars, and I’m close with my family. I’ve seen and experienced the happy moments that come along with those things, but I’ve also been around for the sad and stressful ones. 

      As a student, successes and failures feel as if they’re constantly monitored. From grades, to class drama, to performances at practices, there’s always room for change. I constantly find myself trying to get better, and trying to find more ways to be successful. By trying to be the best that I can be at one thing, I often cause myself to fall behind in other departments, which affects my grades and my school-life balance.

      Given that there are always critics and coaches in a student's daily life, we often find ourselves fighting to get to the best spot. I’ve seen friendships fall apart over jealousy. I’ve seen fellow classmates break down in tears because they didn’t realize how much pressure they were under until they reached a breaking point. “Mental overload” tends to be an issue in many students' lives, and often causes kids to be overwhelmed mentally and emotionally.

      High school also exposes adolescents to very difficult situations. You often find yourself forced to spontaneously make choices. You have to choose who you side with, what you believe, what your boundaries are, and much more, all without the proper time to think. As soon as the school day starts, you’re thrown into this endless cycle of having to make decisions you don’t even know are right.

      Although high school does tend to affect students negatively, there are also some positives to being a student. You get to grow and experience trial and errors around very understanding people. Pretty much every kid experiencing middle/high school is going through the process of finding themselves. Whether it be how we feel, what we enjoy doing, or who we hang out with, there is always an aspect of finding out who you are as a person involved as well.

      Given that there are positives and negatives to school and how it affects mental health, I asked some friends about how school impacts their mindset. Some said that they find themselves physically and emotionally exhausted as soon as they get home, and don’t have the motivation to do much else with their day. Coming home exhausted also affects the relationships that the students have with their families, given that they take out their frustration and exhaustion on other family members.

      A student said that the constructive criticism and “compliments” given in school often highlight insecurities and negatively affect self esteem. While on the topic of self esteem, another student found herself pressured to become more popular, and it took losing bits of herself to find where she belonged. Students feel constantly judged when it comes to popularity and others opinions. The pressure to say the right thing and act the right way never truly goes away, and causes students to overthink. This overthinking continues on after graduation, and still affects adults in their daily lives.

      I wrote this article to show how fragile students truly are. With everything going on in the world, the small problems in children’s lives are often overlooked. We need opportunities to find ourselves, but we also just really need time to be kids. We’re all just children after all.