Our Urbana Hawk seniors are facing the most stressful time of their high school careers, college applications. Many of the seniors are doing none other than spending their days filling out applications and stressing over the results. However, the college process is not the only factor overwhelming our seniors. The seniors are faced with the fear of decision making as to choosing what college they will attend, the fear of leaving home, and the fear of the overall unknown.

 We are told our stress is miniscule compared to the older generations “real world” problems. The older generations are dealing with financial obligations, heavy workloads, health, and personal relationships. Young adults are not dealing with these particular stressors during this time of their lives but have life altering questions that they are struggling to answer. Seniors are expected to know what they want to do by the time they leave high school. Knowing what they want to do is the basis of choosing what college is best for them. The goal is to attend a university, obtain an education, and find a career right for you. Over the years these goals have become daunted on seniors earlier and earlier.

  Nevertheless, the problem we are being faced with now is dropout percentages. Over 30 percent of freshmen drop out of college and half never graduate. The question that is not being asked is the cause to these outcomes. College was never meant to be easy, and it never is. However, we must ask ourselves why we are being faced with these numbers over the past years. The main resource is because of stress, but how can we deal with this issue?       

 Competition has risen over the years and seniors are facing the impact. Approximately 70 percent of students enroll in college in the fall immediately after graduating high school. This is an increase of five million since fall 2000. Seniors are feeling the pressure of whether or not they are good enough students to be accepted. With this anxiety, seniors are losing sleep and pushing themselves to past their limits accumulating overbearing amounts of stress. Holly Liposky, a senior at Urbana High School, is taking three A.P. classes this semester and three A.P. classes next semester. Many students overload on college credit classes to differentiate themselves as much as possible when applying for college. Valery Rodriguez, a senior at Urbana High School, is taking two A.P. classes this semester and two A.P. classes next semester. To read the rest of this story, pick up a copy of The Hawkeye from the newsstand near the front office or the media center.