Pressure. Everyone experiences it for different things: school, work, sports, choices, and opportunities. The high school setting produces a lot of pressure. Students are expected to maintain grades, participate in sports, join clubs, take AP courses, have a social life, and probably most importantly, know what they want to do with their lives.
For some lucky ones, they know exactly what they want to be when they grow up. However, for most of us, that’s not exactly the case. In an article from teenlife.com, students were asked about their plans after high school. They reported,
“Society at large makes it seem like students should know exactly what they want to be when they grow up and exactly where they’re headed next.”
Making such a big decision like this can seem hard and very limiting. College or no college sometimes seems like your only option, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You have countless opportunities for what you could do. When approaching graduation, WVHS students took a survey about what path they plan to take after they finish their high school years. Our College and Career Administrative Assistant, Teri Willard, provided us with results from the past 16 years.
With approximately 95% of students filling out the survey in 2024, we saw that only about 57% planned to attend a 4-year university. Others decided on community college, joining the military, taking a gap year, going to trade school, and “other.”
The military was another intriguing option for students. We find out from bls.gov that “when considering which military branch has the most career options for high school graduates, the U.S. Army often comes up.” About 4% of 2024 Wilsonville graduates joined a military branch.
These may just be a few examples, but there are so many more. Many students feel stuck with limited options. In an article from the NY Times, teenagers said the three words that best described how they felt in school were “bored, tired, and pressured.”
Only a quarter said their current school was “doing a good job preparing them for the future.” This could be why so many students feel confused or stressed about their futures. The pressure begins to weigh on them and they end up overworking themselves. While college has always seemed like the primary option for students, many have not been drawn to that as their next big life choice.
Life is complex, and when trying to navigate it, students have discovered that success doesn’t only lie in the classroom, but in the various opportunities that await them beyond the diploma.