A Life of Checkboxes

Get up.

Drag yourself to school. 

Activities. 

Service. 

A monotonous cycle.

Face the piles of homework. Riddled with math problems and poems to analyse.

Go to bed. Lie there, tossing and turning. Sleep - if you can. 

Repeat. 

This unvarying routine is no stranger to the average high school student. All work and no play- stuck in an unceasing loop. An unending cycle to do and do over and over again. To push yourself until you reach the limit. To do everything and to be the best at everything. We need to be the best academically, be a student athlete, excel in playing an instrument, and have some other unique hobby that will set us apart from everyone else. 

Everything we do, every move we make, has some ulterior motive. Every decision we make is driven by a series of questions and concerns about whether this will be a “waste of time”. Every time I sit down to do something for myself, I ponder whether I should be doing something more productive. 

Voices in my head. 

Reminders on my phone that are constantly buzzing. 

Comparisons. 

An overwhelming and unshakable feeling that I can’t relax because I constantly have to do something. It’s a life lived on edge. Give me some time to breathe, to unwind.  

Theoretically, being well-rounded should be a good thing because it means you have time to balance all aspects of life besides academics. It means you have time to study, exercise, and balance instruments or drawing. Now, every other aspect of life has also become a competition. Besides academics, we are now in a race for everything. Running, tennis, basketball, piano, guitar, art… The list goes on. These activities used to be our hobbies, but now they’ve joined the long list of to-dos on our never ending to-do lists. Our lives are limited to those checkbox squares.

There’s just too much pressure to compete in every aspect of life. How many times have we thought, “This activity will look great on my college application…colleges want to see people who are well-rounded.” All are very real considerations, but when did it all stop being fun? 

When did we stop viewing it as extracurricular pastimes that we enjoy, that de-stress us? When did it become just another class to get through? 

High school life seems like an endless list of chores rather than an endless list of possibilities. We should be trying new things and exploring life with fresh minds; isn’t this the time? 

Can anyone remember the last time they did an activity for fun? Because it brings them joy? Because I really cannot. 

This is the painful reality that needs to become a thing of the past because we need to change our realities. We’re stuck in a never-ending cycle of, well, work and more work. We are stuck in a never-ending rat race, compelled to give up yet trapped to keep moving. 

Every choice you make is not about deciding your fate or your future or your societal image. It’s about you and who you want to be. It’s about embracing the possibilities that are ever-present when you choose you over society’s version of the best you.