Students have options besides college

For seniors, the end of the school year is a stressful time. With worrying about graduation to thinking about what comes afterwards, seniors are bombarded with questions of what will come of their life.

Students are often pushed into the direction of college after high school, making many feel trapped and forced into something they may not want to do.

While educators think they are helping students with this approach, they are actually doing the opposite.

The mindset that nothing will come of life without college is damaging to the minds of students who may not have the means or the grades to attend.

College is an enriching experience for many students, and it is important that students have the choice to attend, but it shouldn’t be positioned as the end-all-be-all. Pushing students to work harder just to go to college isn’t how education should be approached.

By making students think college is the most important thing, students who don’t believe they have the potential for college will not try as hard in high school. The more students hear about college, the more they will tune it out and not learn as efficiently.

This idea is damaging not only to students in high school, but it is also damaging to students once they do go to college.

Many young adults face struggles in college when it comes to grades and social lives, and when grades inevitably slip, it’s hard for them to believe in themselves because of the stress placed on doing well in college.

Instead of pushing students towards this goal, we should be teaching students life skills needed for life after high school, whether life leads to college or not. We need to encourage students to make their own decisions and to set their own goals for the future.

This change in ideology will undoubtedly take time, but if schools focus on preparing students for the future and not preparing them for just college, progress will be made.

By preparing students for life after high school, without the thought of college, it will give students the confidence they need to make their own decisions in the future.

Molding this generation into more independent thinkers is an important stepping stone to the future of education.

Education can be more than just teaching students a set pathway. It can teach students that independent thinking is key to our future success.