College Pressure at Lehigh University
Yuzhe Huo
Composition and Literature
Ms. Candice
Feb 7, 3013
Students’ Pressure At Lehigh University In ”College Pressures”, author William Zinsser spends most of the time talking about students’ pressures, especially in the 60’s and 70’s, based on his experience at Branford College at Yale University. The article shows that students are facing pressures in lots of aspects, such as economic, parental, peer and self-induced aspects. However, these pressures are not rare in just a few universities. Economic pressure, parental pressure and peer pressure is present even in a prestigious university like Lehigh. Pressure is the new disease that is spreading through many universities and causing students to lose sight of the actual purpose of school by focusing only on test scores. To begin with, the tuition of Lehigh University increases each year, student’s economic pressure goes up as well. Since students don’t earn too much money, they have to plan each use of money carefully. For instance, in order to save money, students buy e-books instead of textbooks, buy things on Amazon, and sell things they don’t use anymore on E-bay. They have to save money for pursuing higher degrees later. It seems that the biggest pressure most students confront is the economic pressure. As Zinsser mentioned in the article, “The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job.” (Zinsser, 1979, p.73) For international students, parents pay a lot for their children to study abroad because they want them to get a better education and thus lay a good foundation for their future. Studying in America costs lots of money, therefore, students have more pressure and push themselves to study harder. Additionally, competition for jobs and internships actually starts from freshman year. Chuxin, one of my friends at Lehigh University, goes to career services frequently to seek internships. I asked her why, and she said its better for us to care
Composition and Literature
Ms. Candice
Feb 7, 3013
Students’ Pressure At Lehigh University In ”College Pressures”, author William Zinsser spends most of the time talking about students’ pressures, especially in the 60’s and 70’s, based on his experience at Branford College at Yale University. The article shows that students are facing pressures in lots of aspects, such as economic, parental, peer and self-induced aspects. However, these pressures are not rare in just a few universities. Economic pressure, parental pressure and peer pressure is present even in a prestigious university like Lehigh. Pressure is the new disease that is spreading through many universities and causing students to lose sight of the actual purpose of school by focusing only on test scores. To begin with, the tuition of Lehigh University increases each year, student’s economic pressure goes up as well. Since students don’t earn too much money, they have to plan each use of money carefully. For instance, in order to save money, students buy e-books instead of textbooks, buy things on Amazon, and sell things they don’t use anymore on E-bay. They have to save money for pursuing higher degrees later. It seems that the biggest pressure most students confront is the economic pressure. As Zinsser mentioned in the article, “The pressure is almost as heavy on students who just want to graduate and get a job.” (Zinsser, 1979, p.73) For international students, parents pay a lot for their children to study abroad because they want them to get a better education and thus lay a good foundation for their future. Studying in America costs lots of money, therefore, students have more pressure and push themselves to study harder. Additionally, competition for jobs and internships actually starts from freshman year. Chuxin, one of my friends at Lehigh University, goes to career services frequently to seek internships. I asked her why, and she said its better for us to care