High expectations mean high stress for Gen Z

I am currently praying for midterm break.

It seems everyone is getting sick, grades are starting to slip and it is at the point where if you are behind in a class there may be no chance of catching up.

I am taking fewer credits this semester than I have my entire college career and I’m in the least amount of clubs. Yet, I’m still killing myself with work. 

Why?

Why are college kids now conditioned to believe they must push themselves until they are sick, tired and anxious? Why do we need to fill every second of our time with an activity to feel like we are worth something to society?

Not only do these bad habits often lead to mediocrity, which is a pet peeve of mine, but they are killing the motivation of an entire generation of students.

“Millennials” often get a bad rap for being arrogant and lazy, but the kids I’m referring to aren’t millennials. They are Generation Z. 

It seems that Generation Z is overworking themselves because we are trying to compensate for the damage that prior generations left for us. 

Millennials are deemed as lazy, therefore Gen Z is trying their hardest to do everything and anything they can to negate that stereotype. 

Gen Z is currently accumulating debt to simply get entry level jobs or an internship. To get experience, you need a job. Sadly, most of the entry level jobs that Gen Z should be entering require at least five years experience. 

You need the job to get the job, so you can’t get the job because you don’t already have the job. Does that make sense? I didn’t think so. 

To get the job, you often need a college degree, too. When Forbes examined a Federal Reserve study, it showed that “between 1985 and 2011, average tuition nationwide increased 498 percent,” while the rate of general inflation was only 114 percent. That means the cost of college has increased four times more than general inflation. 

We are paying more for our degrees that are essentially required to obtain a livable wage, and when we enter our entry level jobs that probably won’t pay off our student loans, we are often written off as narcissistic and lazy. Not to mention we are also blamed for killing multiple industries, including the diamond industry, the bar soap industry, the casual dining industry and the fabric softener industry. 

That is a lot of pressure, so no wonder we are killing ourselves in school and activities. We simply want to be able to afford to live.

Why are we so anxious? I don’t know. It could be because the planet is dying. Maybe it’s because every day we turn on the news there is another school shooting or another horrendous scandal coming from our government and leaders. Maybe it’s because our future is looking a little gloomy. 

Inc. Magazine said that Gen Z is deeply distrustful of the government, and only six percent trust business corporations to do the right thing.

As a generation we are incredibly pessimistic, but we are trying to do right and survive.

I have met my peers, and I know they are not all the brightest crayon in the box. Next time you begin to write of Gen Z or complain that they do too much or too little, cut them some slack. We are trying our best.