Have your parents ever told you that your life is so easy, and that your so-called “problems” are just complaints? Well, that’s nearly everyone’s parents, so don’t feel like you’re the only one.

The funny thing is, the life of a high schooler, let alone a teen, is really exhausting. I’m not stating that our lives are the worst, but it’s not a walk in the park.

What I like to call the “try-hards” of the student population can relate 100 percent to the previous statement. We get good (really good) grades to impress mom and dad. We work our tails off at sports practice because we want to catch the eyes of the coach or be the best on the team. We get a job so we can have or own money and spend it, just to feel like we accomplished something. We get volunteer hours so we can look better on resumes for college applications. Sometimes it feels like there is no end, no light at the end of the tunnel, and no way back from where we started. Oftentimes, adults do not understand how hard living a teenage life is — going to school for nearly eight hours, having a job, playing a sport, finishing homework assignments, attending a club meeting or activity and getting the extra 30 minutes for service hours is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Try combining all of those things and fitting them into one day — let me tell you this right now, it is not easy. Some of us have different reasons for doing so many things in a certain time frame, whether it’s because we have to, we feel the need to do something that will keep us busy until it’s time to go to bed (totally me) or we do it because we want to. 

So what’s the endgame plan after doing all this? To put in on an application? To feel good about compiling so many responsibilities on you so you can impress other people by saying how long your day was? All those answers could be true. Psychologically, some of us may need to do all these things to eventually get praise out of it. Sometimes that praise is all we need to keep us going.

Really, all these things can be avoided, and they sometimes are. For example, someone may enroll in a course at school that is required, and the rest of the courses they enroll in are just simply “fillers” so they can get the credit and do little to no work. Or another instance might be that they are too lazy to go to work, so they’ll just call in sick. All of these are the easy way out of pushing through life. While some may choose to live their life this way, not all do.

So, instead of running around 24/7 and complaining to your peers and/or parents or guardians about it, embrace it. By being involved with so many things, you are a part of your community and helping the activities/clubs you are in grow. You are not only a part of one thing/event, but a part of many that count on your prowess. So push through your compact day, go through it so others can know that you are a part of something much bigger, and you are preparing yourself and those organizations you are a part of for a bigger, better future.