The collegiate pressure cooker
Who09s Responsible for Elizabeth Shin09s Death? A seemingly outstanding M.I.T. undergraduate committed suicide by fire two years ago. Now the parents are saying that M.I.T. didn09t do enough to treat her stress and keep them informed. (MeFi discussion)
Personally, I09m glad that my college is stressful. The pressure forces me to work harder and learn more. It09s taught me time management skills, so that if I have a midterm, a paper, and a problem set due on the same day, I don09t pull an all-nighter and flip out when people ask me questions. If I don09t do well on one problem set, test, or paper, I09m not a failure. Hell, if I flunked out of college I won09t consider myself a failure; I09d consider college an inaccurate assessment of my abilities.
The stress of college is important, but colleges should make students aware that it09s not everything. All students can still live fulfilling lives without a 4.0 GPA. It09s sad that anyone could ever become so blinded by pressure to succeed that they lose sight of how much they have accomplished.