Position Essay: College Pressures
In school, do you remember the pressures that had been put on you? Do you remember what those pressures did to you? Most likely you do. In William Zissner’s essay, “College Essays”, he recalls the pressures he had witnessed, as he was Master at Yale University. Those pressures included: economic, parental, peer, and self-induced. Zissner wants students to realize there is no straight and narrow pathway to a good career and job and that its okay if bumps in the road occur. The essay may have been written in the late 1970’s, but the essay is still applicable to present day, in the last months of 2015. These pressures, for decades, have produced a negative affect on students, including high social anxiety and …show more content…
Both of these mechanisms are used pretty commonly, but the second one is definitely more dangerous. A study produced by Celia C. Lo, Allison N. Monge, Rebecca J. Howell, and Tyrone C. Cheng used the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), to show how common abuse of non-prescribed prescription drugs and alcohol are. This survey uses people 12 years old and older. In the survey they have found that, “6% of American college students exhibited both alcohol abuse/dependence and nonmedical use of a prescription drug, while 11% exhibited alcohol abuse/dependence only and 14% exhibited nonmedical use of a prescription drug only” (Lo, Monge, Howell, and Cheng, 43). Along with this, 17% of the survey lived in dorms. Abuse of drugs is a coping mechanism usually, but the factors that can lead a student into abusing alcohol are a million to one. Some reasons may be because a new freedom, pressure to do well, pressures from all of the above stated before (financial, self, peer, and parental), and dealing with depression and/or anxiety, and also, the pressure to adjust to a new place. The consequences of abusing drugs can lead to reckless decisions, such as driving under the influence, endangerment, and involvement with the police. Ways to prevent this, or to help stop it, is to offer counseling, alleviating the pressure around you by talking out how you feel, similar to the way referenced to help anxiety and self-esteem
In school, do you remember the pressures that had been put on you? Do you remember what those pressures did to you? Most likely you do. In William Zissner’s essay, “College Essays”, he recalls the pressures he had witnessed, as he was Master at Yale University. Those pressures included: economic, parental, peer, and self-induced. Zissner wants students to realize there is no straight and narrow pathway to a good career and job and that its okay if bumps in the road occur. The essay may have been written in the late 1970’s, but the essay is still applicable to present day, in the last months of 2015. These pressures, for decades, have produced a negative affect on students, including high social anxiety and …show more content…
Both of these mechanisms are used pretty commonly, but the second one is definitely more dangerous. A study produced by Celia C. Lo, Allison N. Monge, Rebecca J. Howell, and Tyrone C. Cheng used the 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), to show how common abuse of non-prescribed prescription drugs and alcohol are. This survey uses people 12 years old and older. In the survey they have found that, “6% of American college students exhibited both alcohol abuse/dependence and nonmedical use of a prescription drug, while 11% exhibited alcohol abuse/dependence only and 14% exhibited nonmedical use of a prescription drug only” (Lo, Monge, Howell, and Cheng, 43). Along with this, 17% of the survey lived in dorms. Abuse of drugs is a coping mechanism usually, but the factors that can lead a student into abusing alcohol are a million to one. Some reasons may be because a new freedom, pressure to do well, pressures from all of the above stated before (financial, self, peer, and parental), and dealing with depression and/or anxiety, and also, the pressure to adjust to a new place. The consequences of abusing drugs can lead to reckless decisions, such as driving under the influence, endangerment, and involvement with the police. Ways to prevent this, or to help stop it, is to offer counseling, alleviating the pressure around you by talking out how you feel, similar to the way referenced to help anxiety and self-esteem