We are always told that grades matter and we have been asked since elementary school what we wanted to do as a career. People say doctor, dancer, teacher, police officer, firefighter, or singer. Then they get more complicated when we get to middle school: musician, artist, baker, or race car driver. Then we get to eighth grade and we are told that grades matter in high school and we need to know what we want to do so we know what classes we need to do really well in.

In high school—we are told that everything we do is important and that we need to have good grades and know what we want to do. Most students do not know what they want to do or they know what they want to do but they have multiple choices for their career path. I interviewed a few underclassmen, a freshman and a sophomore about the pressures of college on the horizon.

In an interview with Haylie Fultz, a freshman at Brunswick High School, I asked her if she felt pressure about colleges: “No, I don’t feel pressured about college because I have always wanted to go to college.”

I asked her if she felt pressure to have perfect grades? “Yes, I do feel pressured to have perfect grades by my parents.”

I wanted to know if she thought she had to get perfect grades to get into a good college? “Yes, I feel like you need to have perfect grades to get into a good college.” —and what grades to her a good grade? “A good grade in my opinion is a C or a B.”

For a sophomore it feels like we have two years left to figure out what we want to do!

In an interview with Yana Smith, a sophomore at Brunswick High School, I asked her if she felt pressure about colleges: “I feel pressure about college because we only have two years left in school.”

I asked her if she felt pressure to have perfect grades? “I don’t feel pressured to have perfect grades, but I need passing grades. I feel pressure about having good grades from the school because they give us a lot of work and they expect us to do good. I also feel pressured by my Dad because he wants me to do good. I don’t want to let my Dad down.”

I wanted to know if she thought she had to get perfect grades to get into a good college? “I feel pressure about perfect grades to get into a good college because I think that colleges look at students’ grades. Colleges look for hard-working students and students that keep their grades up.” —and what grades to her a good grade? “In my opinion, 60% and below isn’t good because teachers push you to have high grades.”

I wanted to know if she feels the pressure of choosing a major? “I feel the pressure of having to choose a major because I’m not very sure what I want to do at the moment.”

What we should be told is that—yes—grades matter—try your best on your assignments, quizzes, tests, and benchmarks then you will do fine. They will have more pressure thinking they have to have perfect grades and on top of that they will worry about what they are going to do for a career.

There are many ways to prepare for college. It’s hard for both people who do know what they want to do and people who don’t. People who don’t know what they want to do should start by looking at their interests and then think if they want to do that as a career. Then they should start looking at colleges that offer that major and think of a budget for their college and how much they want to spend for college. College can get very expensive. It gets more expensive when you go out of state so that is another option. For people who do know what they want to do, they should just start looking for colleges that offer the major, think of a budget for your college and how much you want to spend for college. College can get very expensive. It gets more expensive when you go out of state so that is another option.

According to Ohio State University 50-75% of undergraduate students change their major at least once before earning their degree.

Preparing for college can be very stressful because it makes us have to choose what we want to do for a career. To help manage the stress about grades, school, or college. Here are some tips to manage your stress: get enough sleep, exercise, and avoid procrastination. Getting enough sleep is important in everyday life, not getting enough sleep can cause high-stress levels, anxiety, and depression. Exercise is a good way to manage stress because it gives you an outlet to relieve stress, exercise can be anything like yoga, running, dance, etc. It’s very easy to procrastinate but you need to avoid it because the more you procrastinate when it gets to the due date get more stressed about getting the assignments done.

In conclusion, we should tell students that they should work hard in school so they can get the grades that are good but they shouldn’t worry about not getting straight As. It’s okay to get As and Bs on your report card.