By Mariam Jalloh
Trendsetter Team
The teenage years, 13-17, are marked by growth, mistakes, and lessons learned. However, this period is also marked by uncertainty as teenagers navigate new waters.
“Preparing yourself mentally and academically for another huge milestone in your life can be stressful and scary,” Chloe Mak said. “It can definitely make someone anxious for their future.”
Here, the milestone in question is college. More than two-thirds of high schoolers are “often or always worried” about getting accepted into their preferred university, according to Challenge Success, a Stanford-affiliated research-based association. Mak, a rising high school junior, is just one of many.
“I think it’s inevitable that these sorts of things begin to get more and more concerning because I’d be an incoming junior and we all know junior year is the year where it starts to get intense,” Mak said. “Your extracurriculars begin to get more and more competitive and SAT becomes more important because you only have so many opportunities to retake it and get a good score.”
Aspects like extracurriculars, GPA, and the SAT/ACT all weigh on the minds of students feeling the burden of getting into a good college. It creates a competitive environment where it seems like the only respite is that acceptance letter in the middle of senior year.
But if you ask Naomi Okosun, a 2023 high school graduate, the stress hasn’t subsided; it rather shifted.
“When I started speaking to my parents about college, reality started to set in,” Okosun said. “It made me realize that I am on my own now, making my own decisions, decisions that could take part in my future.”
After all, college is seen as the transition from childhood to adulthood, a time when many develop their identities and habits outside of the supervision of their parents. A teenager’s first foray into the “real world.”
“It’s like your parents are not always gonna be there to entertain your needs and you have to take care of it,” Okosun said. “You start to get concerned about going to a place where you are by yourself with no parents to tend to your needs or remind you about doing things. You have to do it all yourself.”
All hope is not lost though. While college is a new experience, and the unknown can be scary, Okosun looks forward to the fun memories she’ll make at the University of North Texas, and the friends she’ll make along the way. Mak also tries not to let her anxieties cloud her thoughts about college.
“Regardless of what college I decide to go to, I’m still going to be able to pursue my dreams,” Mak said. “[I’ll] complete the major I’ve wanted to study, get the job I’ve always wanted, move to places that feel like home, settle down, meet someone, and start a family. As scary as the future sounds, I’m particularly excited for it.”
Mariam Jalloh is a Scripps Howard Foundation Emerging Journalists Intern with Texas Metro News through the University of North Texas.
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