Does Pressure Really Make Diamonds?

Full schedules, exam stress and endless studying hours, but what does it amount to? What is it all for? I have never questioned why we all want do so well, because the answer was always simple: good grades meant good university and good university eventually meant success in the world of work. So, to be honest, I have never seen an issue with putting pressure on yourself. Personally, I held the belief that it allowed one to push themselves further than they ever thought they could go, but for different people it can vary. Some have very different values and different sources of pressure: teachers, parents and themselves.

However, sometimes it pushes people a little too far. Stress causes all the cells in your body to be tense. Think of it like a rope; when you pull both ends hard enough it will snap. And that is what happens with people: we snap, we burn out, we have a crisis because we’ve done too much, too fast. It’s undeniable that some people can’t even fathom the idea of doing ‘too much work’ or spending ‘too much time practising,’ but it happens to those who want to do the best. Truth be told, we need to keep a balance so that we keep our sanity. We need to equal out pressure and relaxation, otherwise the pressure ends up putting cracks in who we are, rather than making us thrive.

Allegra Nayar, 5 th

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