Photo by Jack Tumpowsky
By Anika Sridhar
Opinions Reporter
‘Tis the season of nervous seniors.
As I witness so many of my friends receive their college decisions and finish their applications I am slowly starting to panic about the future. The discussion about what comes next is starting to make college seem like a reality, rather than a distant thought that I am too young to be thinking about.
Many juniors around the school have been hit by the sudden reality of life after high school. Every person has their own pressures in regards to the future. Mine, however, stems from being a first generation American, and my parents holding a dream of me attending an excellent university.
In my parents’ eyes, there is one primary institution that molds one’s future: college. Attending college is the “American dream” to them.
Neither my mom nor my dad attended undergraduate college in the US. Both of them grew up in southern India, where they were able to graduate high school, and eventually college. Soon, they moved to Massachusetts to pursue careers, eventually receiving graduate degrees.
While at work, they heard numerous coworkers discuss the prestige of their undergraduate university. Their coworkers would speak about their familial ties to specific schools, and how their college years were the four most important years of their lives. To my parents, this was golden. They began to notice just how much value many Americans put on the college education, hence their current emphasis on attending a good school.
Since I was little, I have heard speeches concerning the importance of working hard in school. Their constant focus on academic achievement has made me perceive college as this life-altering experience that will make me the person I am destined to be, even though subconsciously I understand that is not the case.
Many of my friends ask me why it is that college holds such importance in my house. To them, I say that being on the outside is really challenging. My parents are living in a country where they have no existing institutions in store to guide them. They are incredibly traditional and have no clue what it takes to make it in America.
While the actual impact of college on my life may not be very large, the belief that a great college education is important to success is understandably luring. To my parents, college is a sign of hope, a symbol of accomplishment in America, and a sign that other kids no longer are ahead of theirs, or have different guidance than their own.
As a result, I am already overly stressed about college and planning very early my essay topics and practicing towards a perfect my SAT score. Maybe I am overvaluing the college degree and have absolutely no idea what I am even talking about when it comes to what college is actually like.
However, unlike my own parents, when I attend college I will at least figure out some answers to these questions and can better guide my own children through the process and its importance. I will know it because I will not have to feel on the outside, looking in.
