Typically, seniors write reviews on the year, however, as I wrap up my sophomore year of high school, all I can do is think about these past two years. Everyone said high school would be hard, but I never understood what they really meant until now. There is so much to worry about and simply not enough time. There is so much pressure to start building a future, and truly the idea of high school leaves me with quite a few questions: How are we supposed to worry about this and figure it out, and why so young? Why is high school so focused on core curriculum and not exploration to find our hobbies and passions? Why are such high expectations placed on the shoulders of people so young that their brains haven’t even reached their full development?

In high school, you are often told a few things. First, you need to figure out your future career, and second you need to figure out the after high school education you’ll need. Why would we ask children as young as fourteen what they want to do the rest of their lives? We’ve not even lived a quarter of a lifetime, and we’re supposed to already have the rest of our lives planned out. To add to that, we’re expected to figure out all of the high school classes we need to aid in said career that we’ve already picked out so young. But what if we find something we like more? Now we have to change everything around and practically start over. Who came up with this idea?

The major flaw with this plan, however, is that high school is also focused on few and specific things. Why do we need a math and English class every year of high school? What about people who want to become plumbers? Why do they need all those English classes? We’re expected to figure out what we want to do, but we aren’t given much space to explore our options. Not to mention, we only get seven classes a day, so our exploration options are already quite limited. The year we get the most room to choose is our senior year, but we’re expected to already have everything figured out by then.

While all of this is quite unfair, we’re expected to do more yet. We’re expected to get a job, maintain a social life, maintain good grades, good family relationships, while also figuring out our future. This is the age we’re meant to find ourselves, not plan the rest of our lives. Why place such heavy burdens on shoulders so young?

While none of this is the fault of any one person or school, it is still unfair to us. We shouldn’t have to plan our futures while we’re so young and unsure. We should get more options to explore our possibilities. We shouldn’t have so much pressure on us so young. Some people thrive from this pressure, but more often than not, it causes many struggles.