Election posters flap in the wind. Chalked messages riddle University sidewalks. University Career Services internship and career e-mails fill our inboxes. The weeks before the announcement of selection decisions for everything from scholarship opportunities and awards to lawn residency for next year tick down to days. It's that time of year again, and the pressure's on.
Maybe it seems like a lot of things are coming to a head right now, but in our efforts to keep up with the pace many of us often forget that this type of high pressure situation is not the exception at our University, it is the rule. From some angles, this is a positive thing: The driving nature of our environment encourages us to strive constantly for self-improvement, and it pushes us to actualize potential that we might not otherwise reach. On the other hand, however, it also holds the potential to skew our priorities, as well our view of the world and even ourselves. Moreover, it can drive us into allowing our perceptions of our self-worth to depend on achieving a 3.8 GPA and a Student Council presidency.
Our modern society teaches us to judge ourselves in this way, and at a University filled almost exclusively with natural over-achievers, the pressure -- not only to achieve personal success but to accomplish more than all of those around us -- increases exponentially. According to a new study, depression rates have doubled, anti-depressant use has risen 15 percent and suicidal tendencies have tripled among college students since 1989. In light of this, perhaps we should take this most overtly stress-filled segment of our year not to jump into the chaos, but to stop -- for once --and ask ourselves just why we are doing it, and if it is the right path.
This is not to suggest that the drive to work hard and achieve is a bad thing. It is wonderful, and no life would be complete without purpose, effort and accomplishment. The questions that we all need to ask ourselves are these: Whose purpose are we serving in our work, and are we taking the drive to succeed too far? Are we doing it because it is our ideal lifestyle or are we doing it because we think we should chase perfection? Have we become trapped inside a cycle in which our accomplishments arenever enough and rest is non-existent? Certainly, this is not the case for all students at the University, but for everyone who walks through his or her life relatively stress-free, I would venture to guess there are many more who deal with these kinds of excessive anxieties in some form. Whether they manifest themselves in workaholism, eating disorders or destructive behavior, these anxieties abound. The astounding patronage of our own University's psychological service, the Counseling and Psychological Service, itself provides enough indication of the reality of this problem.
Ours is a generation that has never had to face any great collective struggle, and many of us have lived our personal lives accustomed to being financially secure, bright and competent. But privilege comes at a high price: with relief from immediate threats, we are given time to become intensely perfectionist and, in turn, unreasonably self-deprecating if we feel that we have failed. It has opened the door for us to become extremely self-focused, and has taught us to view our peers as competitors, not as allies. This has led directly to the high-strung environment that is now the University. I have seen close friends who, despite the fact that they remain some of the most incredible, talented and brilliant people I have ever known, are tormented by feelings of inadequacy and fear of failure with which -- given their virtues -- they have no rightful association.
Gertrude C. Carter, co-sponsor of a recent conference on this issue in Stockbridge, Mass. notes, "Growing up involves a lot of regression off and on
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