The following story comes from C.W, a rising junior. She talks about her experience dealing with parental expectations and how it has impacted her.
C.W has never had to deal with economic struggles at home. Her family is not wealthy, but they’ve been able to live a comfort life and enjoy nicer things. Although she is economically secure, this doesn’t mean that C.W has not dealt with struggles of her own. Academic struggles can come in many forms, and for C.W, it is the pressure from her parents to succeed in school. That pressure has caused C.W to be hard on herself. She takes as many classes as she can, a majority of those being higher level ones, and expects herself to always receive As on her report cards. These expectations have led to C.W feeling anxious and stressed about school. She worries all her work and effort will not be enough to get her into college. Yet, through all of this, C.W has been working hard to counter this negative mindset. She is making efforts to remind herself constantly that she is trying her best and that everything will be alright in the end. C.W still feels like she has a ways to go till she is able to conquer the pressure she feels, but she is making the steps towards overcoming it.
Advice C.W has for other students dealing with stress is to “make sure they’re working for themselves and not others. Focus on your own health and don’t stress yourself doing too much or trying to fit other people’s standards. As long as you’re doing your best, I think that should be enough for everyone”.
C.W is a rising junior who attends Lowell High School. Some of her hobbies include volleyball, photography, and fashion. Besides that, C.W also enjoys spending time with her friends. She is anxious about the current world circumstances and how it will turn out, but C.W still hopes to one day be successful in what she does and help others.
Written by Sophia Hernandez on 8/7/2020
Comments