Picture this: You get home from school at 8:00 PM since practice was a bit longer than usual. Before eating dinner, you immediately start checking the damage, and realize that you need to study for a Spanish test, and finish homework for APUSH, AP Physics, and AP Statistics before school tomorrow. But you still need to eat dinner, shower, and complete any leftover chores. Unfortunately, this means you won’t be going to bed any time soon, and when you eventually do, you’ll be up before you know it, getting ready to repeat.
Sound familiar? This nightmare is a reality for students around the globe, but it especially resonates with students at Punahou. With numerous opportunities available to us, it makes sense to join as many unique extracurricular activities and take as many AP classes as possible. Who wouldn’t? However, if I were to ask every academy student if they enjoyed or even participated in every activity they signed up for, chances are the answer is no. Now, some may say it’s due to the drive of wanting to learn more, taking advantage of every opportunity. However, I personally know that for many, the answer lies with one word: college. Thus, the question arises: has Punahou’s obsession with college overshadowed the ambition to learn?
When starting their education journey in the Academy, many Punahou students are taught how to build the “perfect resume” through social media and advice from peers. This typically involves investing countless hours into many different club activities, chasing leadership roles, and taking the most rigorous AP courses. Now, this seems harmless on the surface, as it seems to stem from ambition to pursue passions. But that’s not the case. Judging from personal experiences and conversations with other students, course and extracurricular selections are less about curiosity and excitement and more about strategic planning for college preparation. Trevor Hu ‘27 agrees with this statement, adding, “I started a podcast with a main intention of polishing my resume further, but quickly lost interest after the first few episodes. I realize that colleges look for a student who is passionate about what they do, rather than something they ‘force’ themselves to accomplish to just look better. The same thing goes for classes; I enrolled in the classes for ‘academic weapons’ despite being no such thing.”
This pursuit of getting on the college admissions officers’ good side has catastrophic effects on a student’s well-being. For one, actively trying to participate in as many activities as possible can induce a lot of stress, and constantly overworking yourself can result in devastating mental health issues like burnout. According to a faculty member of the S+Well, Mrs. Tara, “When we are involved in many activities or pulled in different directions, whether they’re extracurricular or academic pursuits, we often cast aside time with friends and family, and hobbies that we love because they’re seemingly unimportant or we’re so focused on the ‘never-ending to-do list.’ This can lead to an overall sense of feeling unbalanced and overextended. We can’t ‘pour from an empty cup,’ so it can be hard to be motivated and enthusiastic in keeping up our involvement in activities when we’re feeling so personally unbalanced.” Burnout can also force a student to miss days of school, and with that, missed tests and bundles of assignments start to pile up, making it easier than ever to fall behind, something no one wants.
The other issue is the emphasis placed on going to a prestigious college at Punahou. Attending such a reputable school, many students feel immense pressure to get into a top college. This expectation not only overshadows other post-high school options available, such as staying in Hawaii, but also results in many prioritizing their university’s prestige over more opportunities beyond college. Having such an obsessive mindset can also make being rejected from a top college, such as Harvard or Stanford, devastating. College Counselor and former dean, Mr. Koshiba, agrees; he states, “I think there are a significant number of external pressures that contribute to the feeling that college rankings are important. It could be what people hear from others, the internet, social media, or where traditional media focuses its attention, among others…I think sometimes students feel pressure to participate in things because of what they see online. Whether it is for college or not, there is a natural tendency to compare yourself to others, and that can create a sense of ‘falling behind’ or FOMO.”
Thankfully, Punahou has recognized this and has developed fun solutions to reduce anxiety and stress. Recently, the S+Well invited the entire Academy to participate in Wellness Week, an enjoyable one-week event that held different activities each day to remind students of the importance of taking breaks from the “college frenzy.” S+Well counselor Mrs. Tara further explains the importance and impact of Wellness Week, stating, “Wellness Week has developed and evolved over the past few years. What started as a one-day event during the 2022-2023 school year has grown into a week-long series of events, hoping to appeal to a wide population of students’ wellness interests. Anecdotally, the S+Well counselors have noticed a need for students to take time to prioritize wellness, especially toward the end of semesters when various commitments intensify. Knowing that students’ schedules are quite packed, we thought we’d bring wellness to them in (hopefully) easily accessible ways. Whether it’s grabbing a fruit from the S+Wellness Wagon, playing volleyball with friends in the gym, taking a tech-free break, or spending 10 minutes with Cedar and her friends, we hope that gives students just a little bit of a recharge going into the rest of their day.”
Personally, to avoid obsessing over just college, I’ve started thinking more about what comes after that. University, for many, is just a small portion of our lives, even smaller than school. Our lives will really only begin afterward, and hence, no matter which college you attend, the important part is what difference you make there.
Being in the middle of high school, it’s only natural to think about the next big chapter. This, combined with being surrounded by many other talented individuals, makes it seem like getting into a top university is necessary. However, going to an Ivy League school isn’t the only option, and in the long run, the colleges we get into and where we end up going truly won’t matter. The best thing we can do is to stop doing things solely for the transcript and start doing things for our enjoyment.