College Pressures - Literature review Example

The primary goal has become that they should pursue courses that would lead them towards a life of financial and economic security. Majors that Zinsser has described as ‘pre-rich’ become the primary choice of students yet it fails to yield a definite answer on why they take them. He illustrated specific examples wherein students put more emphasis on the aesthetics of their transcript. The value that is placed on being appealing on paper and how they often overexert effort to achieve all of these as a clear sign of peer pressure.

There is concurrently the matter of the parents, whether advertently or inadvertently, putting pressure on their children in the hopes that they get better careers for their financial security. It is a common occurrence that the parents choose for their children in view that they are wiser because they are older. Failing is not an option and planning is the key. Despite all of these, the author specifies the good points of today’s generation. He points out that they are kind and they are accommodating to people.

They often juggle interests with their studies but in turn, may only aggravate pressures. In essence, he hopes for a better college experience were ‘getting ahead’ is not the end-all and be-all of these students lives. Zinsser mentioned how most of those he knew got into where they are not exactly on a perpendicular way but through hurdles. “That there is no one "right" way to get ahead -- that each of them is a different person, starting from a different point and bound for a different destination” (Zinsser, par. 40). Rather, they sit back and consider that detours are an integral part of life.