In our present society, people face a variety of pressures from parents, friends, colleagues, and even themselves to “succeed” and reach the widely accepted arbitrary “finish lines”, whether that be getting into college, having children, or whatever else it may be. High school is an excellent reflection of these predefined expectations in society. Ever since the 1970s, the wealth gap in America has grown exponentially, while America used to have a strong middle class under free market policies, political and economic corruption has led to a large lower class with the vast majority of the money in the hands of  the top 1%. As a result, parents of high school students place insane expectations on their students to be able to attend these top 1% colleges like the Ivy Leagues. This pressure comes from a good place with parents believing their children’s only chance at escaping the lower class is to be in the top 1%, however not only is this belief not true, it's dangerous. While some healthy competition in life is good, in our current society, as can be seen in high school, the pressures are far too much for any one person to handle and benefit from.

Perhaps the biggest misconception among students are parents is that a prestigious college guarantees success. The biggest pressure placed upon the vast majority of high school students is from their parents to attend college. The belief of many parents nowadays is that if their child does not attend a top college such as Harvard or Yale, they will have no chance of making it in the current economy. This stems from the fact that the wealth gap is only growing larger and larger as the money flows to the large corporations who take advantage of the declining middle class. The money in America is becoming increasingly centralized in the hands of the rich and this is only perpetuated further by the belief that if a student does not attend a top college then they may as well give up because they will never make it. The fact of the matter is, this belief among parents that their children need to attend a top college in order to succeed is just plain wrong. While it is true that students that come from colleges such as Harvard or any other Ivy League are on average wealthier than those from other “second tier” colleges, this is f because those students who attend top colleges are on average wealthier prior to going into college. However if you really take a second look, and look at the colleges with the highest return on investment (ROI), you may be very surprised. Harvest Mudd College is the highest ROI college, followed by MIT and many military academies. In fact, the first Ivy League on that list doesn’t even show up until #16, which is Princeton. The key takeaway here is that many of these “top colleges”, which are largely regarded as the cream of the crop, are in fact not the best option in the majority of cases. These predetermined finish lines in society such as going to an Ivy League school are oftentimes not the best path for the majority of people, rather they are just seen to be because of their prestige.

Something that people, especially impressionable high school students need to learn, is that these “finish lines” are extremely misleading and not an indication of personal value. Not only are reaching these arbitrary finish lines in society not a good measure of future success, they are damaging and harmful. For example, societal expectations in high school often can lead to burnout and damaging mental health issues. Students will often do more harm than good for themselves in the attempt to be “the best”. As Eve Ewing puts it, “There is no glory in a grind that literally grinds you down to dust.” In other words, the constant struggle to do more, to be the best, inevitably results in more bad than good. It’s time we learned to accept ourselves for what we are, we’re just human. We have our limitations and relentlessly trying to excel in every aspect of your life is something that nobody is capable of, no matter what it may appear as from the outside. The biggest thing that not just high school students, but everyone needs to learn to do is manage expectations and know their limits. While pushing your limits and bettering yourself is extremely important, learning when to just take a second to take a step back and relax is equally, if not more important.

The grind culture in our society stems from the growing divide between the haves and have nots, the rich and the poor, the ever declining middle class. Political and economic corruption is only strengthening this divide which is perhaps no better reflected than in high schools and the pressure to get into a top college. As a result of this pressure, the cycle is perpetuated in which high school students learn this attitude and apply it to their lives as adults. The arbitrary finish lines seen in our society today are oftentimes not the best path for the majority of people, and the struggle to get there can be more harmful than beneficial. The only way this cycle that only further pushes the society into two distinct classes can be broken is through the implementation of a completely new mindset. People need to start setting their own goals and following their own paths, if this doesn’t happen, the divide will only continue to grow.