As part of my coaching journey, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with a group of exceptional women who are less than two months away from graduating high school. We meet on a weekly basis and work on the struggles they are facing and the anxiety attached to some major decisions they are about to make. If you have graduated high school more than 8 years ago, let me tell you, things have changed. The pressures are greater and the stakes are even higher.
For most teenagers in the U.S. their goal is attend college, it is what we do. Why? Because we need to get a good JOB. So for four years many teens take every possible AP class, SAT and ACT prep course, balance athletics and extracurricular activities, take on internships, work a part-time job and are most likely averaging only five hours of sleep a night. They are taking every step to get an edge and be a step ahead of the other student who has studied just as hard as them.
Seniors are applying to 8, 10, 15 different colleges. So many teens have put in all of this work, just to find that so have thousands of other applicants applying to the very same schools they have. Over the past four years, I have watched top students (top 5% with exceptional SAT scores) get rejected from schools we all thought hands down would accept them.
February thru April is college acceptance season and as you can imagine the stakes are high. April 1st, teens are itching to share their acceptance stories on Snapchat. Many are feeling the anxiety of what their peers may think. Social media is in your face letting you know where people have gotten in and where they will go.
Why do I share all of this with you?
As a society we have put so much pressure on teenagers to do well (and better than the person next to them), yet haven’t prepared them for the letdowns that sometimes come up in life. I watch teenagers define themselves based on which colleges have accepted to rejected them. They’ve worked so hard to be the “perfect applicant,” that when they receive a college rejection, their world shatters.
When we define our success based on what others think of believe, we are bound for disappointment. Unfortunately, what most teenagers don’t realize is that colleges and universities are a business and they are looking at their bottom line. What will make them look good? The applicant isn’t an individual, but rather a number. And when teenagers attached their identity based on which colleges accept them, they are bound for confusion.
If you are a teenager struggling to figure out your future, know that you are not alone. Even though no one else is talking about it, chances are they are feeling the same stress and anxiety as you are.
If you find yourself overwhelmed, stressed, anxious over the college decision process, contact me NOW and schedule a free 30-minute Teen Power Session, where we can discuss the next steps you can take to release the overwhelm and anxiety so you can feel confident as move into the next phase of your life.
Much love,
Andrea Zacharias
