College Pressures Essay

The Pressures Faced by College Students

In college campuses across the USA, college students are facing an abundance of pressure. They juggle family stress to, college stress, to peer stress, students are constantly pulled into a never ending cycle of stress. Constantly pursuing their education to do whatever is necessary for them to graduate from college. Today's generation of teenagers/young adults, and older generation of people, face alike challenges that are dramatically different from the before. Today we have an abundance of sophisticated technology equipment, collaborative strategies (skype/blackboard) and the internet, just to name a couple. For example, we have application tablets like IPads, e–readers, Kindle–fires and PDF books. Students/consumers find themselves constantly worrying about trying to keep up with new technology's that is mass produced for sale. There is the inconvenious and anxiety of not having the funds or being able to afford new/upgrade these devices. Additionally, many students are faced with the aggravation /worry if their devices are stolen or worse if a hacker breaks into their system and the repair costs. For students, the anxiety of all these things /situations comes from a swarm of different directions. There is constant pressure to pass all classes they have enrolled in and to not drop any, participate in clubs, excel in extracurricular activities , pass an important exam or showcase a presentation that took weeks to put together. With all of these intensifying demands, Get more content

Summary Of College Pressures

By William Zinsser

William Zinsser, a famous writer, journalist and a master at Yale, published an article in 1979 which spoke of the pressures that students faced. Zinsser believes that students should realize that there is no one right way to a successful life and that ''the road'' ahead is swirly and long. Though his article was written in the late 70's and was primarily focused on the situation of the time, as a freshman at Columbia University today I cannot help but feel the same, if not bigger struggles of which he speaks. In his essay ''College Pressures'' William Zinsser discusses the pressures American society puts on college students. Zinsser uses a metaphor of the road through life, stating that students want a straight path to security, which he perceives as death, instead of allowing themselves to take chances, to fail and to grow. According to his essay there are four pressures students encounter: ''economic'', ''parental'', ''peer'' and ''self–induced''. He claims the first two are intertwined as parents are usually the economic support of the student and have dreams of what their child should study. As well, William states that peer and self–induced pressure are intertwined, as students fear their peers might be working harder than them and therefore overstress themselves and do more than is assigned. The author tells us that this generation of students is raised in fear and obsession for success. He asserts that the students must break their ''parents' dreams'' and their ''classmates' fears'' and must believe in themselves. As a legendary American writer, critic and professor, Zinsser'swriting through the essay expertly and empathetically speaks of students and their anxiety which is induced by their society and themselves. He opens the essay by confusing the reader, some notes written to ''Carlos'', but who is writing them? He then immediately explains that it is the students haplessly writing to their dean. The essay further moves smoothly and in a straight forward manner. He argues logically and with clarity so that not only a professor would understand his point of view, but a parent and a student should be able to apprehend. The information given to us is accurate for the time he was writing

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The essay College Pressures was written by William Zinsser. College Pressures was published in April of 1979 in Blair and Ketchum's Country Journal. The main focus in this essay is about the pressure that is put on college students. Zinsser breaks down the college pressure into four different kinds of pressure that is put onto the students. The four pressures that Zinsser describes are economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self–induced pressure. The first pressure talked about in the essay is economic pressure. The way economic pressure is described in the essay is that college students feel the need to get good grades in order to makes a successful career. Every year the cost of college is rising. Since the cost of college...show more content...

Parents want their children to have a successful career, so they feel obligated to choose a career path that will do just that. Parent tend to want to send their kids to college to obtain a medical degree, law degree, or business degree because they want them to make a lot of money and not ever have to worry about debt. When a parent chooses a career path for their kid, it puts a lot of pressure on him or her because they want to make their parents happy or have them pay for their college. So, this leaves the students not enjoying the classes they are taking or the college experience because they are doing what mom and dad want them to do. The third pressure is peer pressure. Peer pressure makes the students compete with each other for the number one spot in the class with the highest grade. From the students working so hard, they do more than what is expected for the assignments. Once most student continue to over exceed on assignments, the students just doing the original assignment don't get the grade they deserve, so they begin to have to work harder to bring their grade up. The students are over run by grades and feel they need to do better than their other

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The Pressure Of College Students

Pressure is like a emotional virus that constantly challenges a person through life. College students are imposed with numerous pressures. In college there are multiple rises and falls for students; therefore, college students often struggle striving for success. College students have aspirations of achieving their dreams and to obtain a enjoyable career. Collegiants are challenged with multiple strains including academic pressure, financial pressure, peer pressure and these pressures determine the outcome of a student's success. Firstly, parents inform college students to acquire A's and B's thout considering the stress that goes alongside those grades. The academic pressure established upon those students can be gastly. Some...show more content...

Secondly, Colleges are businesses and so they require a tremendous heap of money. Various students have issues financially paying for a college education. Therefore, students stress over the financial aspect of college. John Kelly says "The reasons given under financial factors were commonly that they received too little financial aid or they mismanaged their personal finances"(1). Some college students don't receive enough financial support to attend college. So collegiants take out loans to pay for tuition. For students it is tough to maintain an income while in college;so, students debts are increasing while they attend school. Students have pay for housing, food, water and other things the students need. Some students select not to attend college because of the overbearing cost. For college students they constantly worry about producing money to pay back loans. These worries can cohere a student to have anxiety and depression affecting the ability to perform in their academics. According to a survey "Those that listed employment issues as a factor either found that they did not have time to balance both college and work or that they needed to work"(Kelly 1). With increasing debt and no income stress rises. Even if a student graduates, the financial pressure of college remains with students after they graduate. Financial debt will pressure students and harp on their success and goals. Finally, Get more content

"College Pressure" by William Zinsser is a beautiful piece of writing with a fairly straightforward manner that students are too much worried about making money other than choosing something they love to do.Also he talks that student are stressing to much about their future and are under so much pressure to be on the top.He conveys his message by using ethos and pathos.

The article "College Pressure" begins with notes from students asking for advice from the dean of Branford College which is a residential campus at YaleUniversity. It tells about few examples out of hundreds of messages which student send to Dean for advice and help. This pressure between students not only occur at Branford College but all the school and colleges around...show more content...

Zinsser tells an very interesting story that dean told him that letter he used to get in 1960's were mostly about why the world is suffering and what can they do to make a better place to live but nowadays most of the letters are about student asking about their majors and what classes do they need to get into law school.

The message he wants to convey in this essay is quite simple that parents shouldn't put so much pressure on the students and try to support there them as much as possible.As student have enough on their minds before.

Also not all students can take this pressure and due to this depression and anxiety between college students are increasing.This even leads to suicide

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College Pressures

By William Zinsser

In " College Pressures," William Zinsser discusses four types of pressures college students go through. Even though he wrote this in 1978, college students today still experience all four of the pressures. The four pressures Zinsser discusses are economic, parental, peer, and self–induced. Today'scollege students are becoming more and more disconnected with their passions and are being thrown into the world of practicality. College should be a place of experimentation and discovery, but instead it's turned into feelings of stress and fear. students are becoming overwhelmed and stressed with the same "economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure and self–induced pressure" Zinsser speaks of in his essay. College students today undergo even more then the college students from Zinssers ' time. Economic pressure for college students has increased extremely since Zinsser wrote his essay. Back then school at YaleUniversity was only around seven thousand, while in today 's society that would not even cover community college. The prices for higher education has skyrocketed due to the fact that it is now nearly impossible to get a stable job without higher degrees. Now students not only have to worry about getting a good career in something they really want to do, they have to worry about the money. Before their career even starts they will have to worry about paying back that never ending debt. Many people will take years and some may not ever be able to pay off all of

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College Pressure On College Students

Enwerem O. Collins Professor Patricia McEvoy–Jamil English 1301

30 June 2015 Understanding College Pressure In the United States today, Colleges are made up of individuals, both the young and the old from different works of life, who come from different backgrounds. They have different religious belief, morals, and attitudes; this make them see problems differently. They come together with a single purpose which is to learn. Some people thinkCollege is all about a society of students having fun, or living a carefree life, but majority of the students face so much pressure of rushing to meet deadlines and cramming for exams and so many more. There are three categories of College Pressure working on College students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, and peer pressure. First of all, you might want to ask why economic pressures is one of the pressures College students go through. The answer is as simple as what society do College students live in. Do they live in a society where much of academic excellence are not demanded, or do they live in a society where transcripts has become very important. In the United States today, employers are looking for the best A's in a transcript–I mean the best of best in students. This alone puts pressure on college students. This put College students in pressure just to get the A's rather than concentrating on the skills and knowledge they have to learn. However, a student living in a country where prices keep going up–

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Analysis Of College Pressures

By William Zinsser

"College Pressures" Content

"I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self–induced pressure" (paragraph 7).

College Pressures, written by William Zinsser, discusses about the how college students are worrying so much about getting perfect grades and are under an enormous amount of pressure to perform. The article begins by showing notes from students of Branford College that students send to the dean of the college, Zinsser, for advice. The panic of students is not just with students who attend Branford, but also with students across the nation. There are 4 kinds of pressures that are addressed. College kids are influenced with pressures like economic, parental,

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College Pressures Affect Our Lives

College Pressures College pressures dominate our lives. They begin to levitate around us and slowly derail our lives. William Zinsser elaborates about the college pressures that modern generations are facing. He reveals multiple commonalities that the typical college student encounters on a daily basis. Zinsser states, "They want a map–right now–that they can follow unswervingly to career security, financial security, social security, and presumably, a prepaid grave" (12). He is spot on, the pressures demand my attention and won't take no for an answer. So far I've gone head to head with these pressures every day since I started my freshman year in college. For the time that I've been here, my mind is overwhelmed and distraught with the amount of stress that gets piled on top of me every single day. I drown in these unrealistic expectations written in those faulty suggestion bars about how to be successful in college and college 101 tips. College pressures surround me like a dull gray cloud. It showers me with expectations and unfinished checklists. College itself is similar to carpooling to hell and back, but with no actual guarantee with a ride back.

I can speak for myself when I say self–induced pressure is a real thing. The pressure circulates around me and I can never seem to escape. I feel an expectancy to always be doing something productive and valuable with my time. I feel the pressure to get involved, maintain at least a 3.0 GPA, complete all my assignments, and

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College Pressures

By William Zinsser

College, The doorway to the future. Many things can happen during this phase of one's life, well known for exposing peoples "true personalities" through its multiple hardships and adventure. One thing to be said about college is that it is one of the most stressful times of a person life. In College pressures, an article written by William Zinsser, the head master of Bradford College, states that the amount ofpressure placed on college students is heavy and that is unintentionally been cause by their own self–doubt. I am interested in the essay because although it was written in the 70's I know for a fact that many college students can truly relate to this essay in more than one way. I, personally, relate because I would be the first in my family to complete college with more than just an associate's degree and it is a lot of pressure but, unlike the people in this essay, I know very well how to handle the pressure, but I do know many who are friends and in college right now who cannot handle the pressure and are failing under the pressure. In William Zinsser's article, he simply explains how the unstable economy we live in is distracting us from adventuring out into uncharted territory. Simply because, in our up bringing our parents emphasized the importance of stability and the suggestion of striving for more realistic jobs. It also stresses the influence of peers have on one's personal experience and opinion on where he or she should be academically causing exhaustion

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There is so many pressures put on college students. In further review of Sarah Ann Ferner's document in the Odyssey on Pressures of College Students the pressures are, academic, finances, relationships, independence and accountability, peers, facing the future and the last is multitasking stress. One of the pressures is academic expectations. This pressure is from parents and teachers expecting good grades and attendance from the students. Also, these arecollege classes and the teachers expect more from them and that means more homework and more reading assignments. The more ambitious the students face the more academic pressure is put on that student. The next pressure students face is finances. While being away from home for most students is a...show more content...

This is hard to do when there is homework and studying and if the student wants to go out with friends. The next pressure is college relationships. When first arriving at college it can be nerve racking to some but meeting new people is a good thing. It depends on the person with making new people. Some they hit it off right away with people because they are good at making friends. Others it takes a while, might feel excluded from their roommates and be homesick. With that some college students might have a romantic relationship going into college and that will become stressful also. There are many breakups during the beginning of freshman year in college. Many students break up within the first couple months of going to college. Distance, new people and atmosphere change all play a role in this. With that, some people meet new romantic partners and it is stressful going out on dates with new people. In the Odyssey it said that with relationships there is an increase of hurt feelings and excessive worrying and heartache. That adds more stress to the Get

Summary Of College Pressures

By William Zinsser

In William Zinsser's essay, "College Pressures," he discusses the pressures that college students faced in the late 1970's. Zinsser focuses on four main pressures, which include economic, parental, peer, and self–induced pressures. Zinsser feels that these college students are under so much pressure, but they should also realize that there is no "right" way to get ahead, and a career does not have to be preplanned. While I agree with Zinsser that these four kinds of pressures exist, I also think that there are new and different pressures today.

Zinsser says that we live in a brutal economy, when explaining why he feels that students are under economic pressure. The costs for most private colleges, in the late 1970's were about 7,000 dollars per year. He says that students never got ahead, because after they graduated, they were working to pay off their loans (128–129). I agree with Zinsser that there is a lot of economic pressure. Today, costs for private schools are soaring at anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 dollars per year in Minnesota. Quite a jump from the costs he was talking about. Most of us college students don't make that much money each year. Most college students I know are likely to be working a full time job, just to pay for their schooling. And even when they do that, there are still loans they need to pay for all of it. Zinsser never mentions that students did this in the late 70's. Although I know there were pressures when Zinsser was writing, I

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"College Pressures"

Content "I see four kinds of pressure working on college students today: economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self induced pressure," (p.g. 239, paragraph 7). William Zinsser writes an informative article on how the pressures of students in college in the past has been elevated throughout the years. Zinsser shows that because of inflation students are now buried in economic pressure already setting them back. He then goes on the explain how students are under parental pressure. Parental pressure is when a parent choses the path of a students college career, in hopes of securing their future. Parents always want their students to succeed and students want to succeed for their parents which adds more Get

College Pressures In College Students

Youth experience college differently due to their foundations. Through many forms of communication, we have become conscious of the difficulties college students encounter because of pressures that intervene amidst their equanimity and education. The Ted talk "Bring on the learning revolution!" presented by Sir Ken Robinson, a well–received speaker of TED and the essay "College Pressures" by William Zinsser, a journalist, portray the crisis students are undoubtedly undergoing. While they executed their main points through the means of distinct genres, their ideas complement each other when discussing the real–life experiences students have in college. Whether it be economic, parental, peer, and or self–induced pressures demonstrated to affect students (in the author's works), they don't seem overwhelming until one confronts them. Both texts contained the emphasis that pressures, among causing temporary frustrations can also lead to adverse life–changing effects. Being in college, I have witnessed the dismayed faces of students run into the wall of confusion, dissatisfaction, and demotivation with the way their education is unfolding. I have run into the same wall too, myself, and then only understood the degree of uneasiness that situates other scholars in the state of mental devastation. The propositions presented by the writers have potential to inform and help outreach their audience (mostly students) to pursue a career that they're passionate about.

We all most likely

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Zinsser College Pressures

We have to take in consideration that William Zinsser wrote the essay "College Pressures" in 1978, almost thirty years ago. In the modern society today, I believe that we have even more pressure than the students in the seventies. The author listed four main pressures: economic, parental, peer, and self–induced pressures, beside those listed there are other pressures that we could face. First time students can have problems with homesickness and new responsibilities. Some of new students never washed the dishes, cleaned the room or cooked food. So, it could be very stressful to adjust to completely new lifestyle in addition to all academic requirements. Also, immigrantstudent may encounter pressure to overcome cultural shock that conflict Get

College Pressures

By William Zinsser

Students Facing Obstacle During College Life

During the college life students have to deal with different types of obstacles. In the article, "College Pressures" William Zinsser focuses on the pressure faced by the college students. He talks about how the students are dealing with economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self–induced pressure. College students are worried about getting high paid jobs and being rich instead of relaxing and enjoying now. Zinsser claims that students are worried about their future by using pathos. According to Zinsser, one of the pressure students has to face in the college is economical. Pathos have been used by the author to make the reader feel that how students are dealing with economic problems. Student with scholarship are very safe and doesn't have to worry about an economic problem. Zinsser states "I tell them to relax. They can't." Zinsser is trying to convince students not take the pressure, but he/she won't be able to relax because college demands too much of money. Just to pay for the college, students have to work during the weekends or whenever there is a free time. Zinsser supports his stamen by proclaiming "Tuition, room, and board at most private colleges now comes to at least $7,000, not counting books and fees. This might seem to suggest that the colleges are getting rich. But they are equally battered by inflation. Tuition covers only 60% of what it costs to educate a student, and ordinarily the remainder

Summary Of College Pressure

By William Zinsser

In the essay "College Pressure" by William Zinsser, he talked about the different pressures that college students go through that range from economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self–induced pressure. His main point in this essay is that most people in college have no idea what their career is going to be because they do not pre–plan for their future career at this juncture. These students finish college under so much pressure to the point where they have minimal progress towards life after school. We should all agree with the author's stance about pressure because as a college student, I can relate directly to the issues and ideals Zinsser addresses. I also know the feeling of being under so much stress from multiple people while maintaining high grades and although I am in college, I'm also in high school so I am not at a stage in my life to properly decide on the fate of the rest of my life. Zinsser had stated that peer pressure and self–induced pressure are also intertwined, and they begin almost at the beginning of freshman years (241). I agree with what he had said because I've been in the Early College High School program since my freshman year of high school and the coursework is not typically high school quality so we all knew the problems that awaited. When ECHS first started everyone was so hard on each other because we were the first generation. Every day we would work together to help each other and even though we helped each other to succeed, we still tried to be the best of the group so we put constant pressure on ourselves. We did this because we didn't want to face the humiliation if we got kicked out or if we failed classes while everyone else passed. I was one of the people who put too much pressure on myself and as a result I started to fail. I was not failing just one class, or two, but I was failing five of eight. The poor grades led me to add on more pressure to myself. I felt more peer pressure than before and my teachers were pressuring me too. My peers wanted me to succeed because we were there for each other and my teachers all had one goal for me; to walk down the stage to get my diploma from ECHS, not from a different high school. I was placed into mandatory

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College Student Pressure

Pressure is like an emotional virus that constantly challenges a person through life. College students are imposed with numerous pressures, the pressures weigh heavily upon their shoulders. In college there are multiple rises and falls for students; therefore, college students often struggle striving for success. College students have aspirations of achieving their dreams and to obtain an enjoyable career. Collegians are challenged with multiple strains, including academic pressure, financial pressure, peer pressure and these pressures determine the outcome of a student's success. First, is the academic pressure factor of college students. The student's parents inform them to acquire A's and B's without considering the stress that goes alongside those grades. The academic pressure established upon those students can be ghastly. Some students become overwhelmed by their academics and withdraw from college. John Kelly says "overall self–confidence of students who left school may have been adequate, but the academic self–confidence may have been low (1). The pressure of being the perfect student can drive away collegians. Some student does not believe in themselves to be successful. "Also, the individual's global confidence, as compared to the role of confidence specific to academic performance, may be an indication of not having confidence in his or her ability to succeed rather than a statement of a lack of persistence" (Kelly 1). Stress of the future Get