“Suicide Note” and the Call for Action
“Sometimes we feel the world is against us, but the only person against us is ourselves, because we allow the words and actions of others to change our moods, feelings, and the way we live our lives.” College students are now given less hope about their futures based on grades they achieve which generates stress and as a result, failure. College students are also having to adjust to being away from home. Not only that but, they have to get accustomed to the way college professors grade. Stress is generated for most college students when they are not receiving the grades they previously earned in High School. Even parents are causing extra pressure and stress by having high expectations for their children.…show more content… She recorded her thoughts and feelings to her parents in a note before she left this world. This note was written in the form of a poem which gives the reader a perspective on how this young lady felt. The poem relays to the readers her feelings of despair that she endured because she did not feel she was meeting her parents’ expectations. The young woman was very critical of herself. She had unreasonably high standards she expected out of herself. The girl stated repeatedly in her poem that she felt as though she was “not good enough, not pretty enough, not smart enough”. This emphasizes that she was unhappy with where she had been in her life. Therefore, she took her own life to escape the pressures imposed upon her by her parents as well as her professors. Often in today’s society college is becoming mentally challenging and stressful in college students’ lives based on academic self-expectations, parental expectations, and educational…show more content… This mindset, however, is expectations of academic success, which are often better suited to a high school environment rather than that of a higher institution. Incoming college students believe that their grades will remain the same as they have always been which stands to reason the frivolity of their fresh-from-high-school minds. It is a fact that the majority of first-time college students’ grades decline due to college professors’ requirements that are much harder to meet compared to those of their previous high school instructors. When the student receives a lower grade than they expected, the student will most likely feel as though they have failed in college and within their own lives. Many students also have to adjust with the pressure to succeed in the classroom and balance college life, including work, social activities and relationships. The more responsibility and accountability a person takes on, the more stress they feel to perform adequately. For many college students, gaining this newfound independence leads to increased accountability, proving detrimental to their learning minds.
Parental expectations are also one of the most stressful factors associated with college. Students want to impress and make their parents proud academically. Parents often expect students to achieve certain academic goals, whether those include