At one point in our lives, we have all heard our parents say something like this. “When I was your age I had all A’s, worked a part-time job, and was even the valedictorian of my school, so why is it so hard for you to get good grades when you only go to school?” When I was younger, this was the pep talk that I would hear from my parents every time my grades started to slip in school. I would wait to make sure they had left my room, and roll my eyes and think “You would never understand how hard it really is.”

To this day, even though I am almost finished with high school, I still believe that parents do not understand how hard school is these days. As time passes, all things change. High school has become more challenging, and getting into a good college is even harder than it used to be. New requirements, such as the SAT II Subject Tests and AP exams, are getting implemented each year, and the work keeps piling up.

Over this past year, was pulling out chunks of my hair every time I heard my mom say, “I am going to sign you up for another tutoring course.” It seemed as though studying would never end. As soon as I finished my finals, there was the SAT, and after that supplementary courses, and so on and so forth. My life was just like that of Sisyphus. As soon as I was almost at the end, everything would come crashing down, and I would have to start all over again.

I often wondered how I ended up spending most of the summer in a disgusting, musty-smelling SAT prep school from 9 AM to 3 PM. I would beg and plead with my mom to quit, but it was always the same old response, “Do you want to go to a good college or not because I don’t care, it’s your life, not mine.” Even though it sounded like she was giving me a choice, I knew with my mom it was a one-way street, and that it was really more of a threat than a choice.

In addition to academics things such as popularity, love interests, and body image suddenly became more important to me. There was a drastic shift in my attitude from my days in middle school to my time in high school. In high school, these, somewhat unimportant things, began to occupy me almost as much as the school-work itself.

I have noticed I am not the only one who has had a change in focus. When I walk through the halls to lunch, I always hear the same group of girls talking about the exact same thing. As much as I try not to listen, their voices are too sharp and shrill to avoid. Almost as if to make everyone in the hall listen they exclaim something along the lines of “Do I look fat in this dress?” or “Did you hear what Brandon said last week about Rebecca?” It makes me wonder whether schoolwork is of any importance to them. Sometimes it feels as though school is just another place to socialize rather than to learn.

Social and academic pressures, are nothing compared to the amount of mental energy and focus that sports take up.

From being an active participant in many sports including soccer, baseball, and tennis, I know how demanding these sports can be. Especially in high school and college, these sports involve much more time and effort than in middle school and elementary school. During the fall soccer season in my freshman year, our school team trained every day for two and a half hours. Also, we ran almost eight miles each day. After almost seven hours of school, this was what was waiting for us for almost three months.

On days when I finished running, I walked in the front door of my home and collapsed on the couch.

“You better get started on your homework,” my mom would yell from her office. The groan escaping my mouth sounded loud even to my ears. Trudging up the steps to my room, it was all I could do to keep from chucking my mountains of homework out the window. Unfortunately, this was a weekly occurrence. Not wanting to face the disappointed look from my mom when I brought home something worse than an A- hung over my head like Damocles’ sword.  It was almost as if I was a waiter balancing a tray full of wine glasses. One wrong move and everything could come crashing down on me. Needless to say, this balancing act was the most stressful situations I have had to endure during my high school years.

At the end of each school year, I truly felt a sense of accomplishment and pride when it was all over. Adults always mention how the high school years were the best years of their lives. They always say that they would relive those years again in a heartbeat.

Would I relive these years? Are these the best years of my life? No. The amount of mental and physical exertion that it takes to play sports, do well academically, and be popular in school is immeasurable.

I think it is wrong for parents to add on to their children’s stress by saying that they are not working hard enough. The children have many things to worry about, and although they are not “walking to school uphill, both ways,” they are definitely working harder than most parents think they are.