Felipe R. California

Student Mental Health

Students are hard workers and tend to work to push themselves beyond their limits. Sometimes going past their limit proves to be worse for a student.

Dear next president,

I’m only a student; however, I care for my peers. They work hard to be the best and push themselves beyond their limit to go far. The amount of time and effort they put into school on their own is very admirable. However, at certain times, the only way for them to cope with the stress is to just throw away a large portion of their grade.

I have been privy to this horrible scene more times than necessary and it is truly dreadful. I’ve had to switch classes, work harder than necessary, and even lose newly found friendships. Of course, without these classes, I would not be as smart as I am, nor would I know the people I do now. This letter, however, isn’t about me; it’s about those who aren’t able to get the help that they need.

At my school the Parent Center occasionally sells pizza to the students during lunchtime and acts as a fundraiser for a cause that most students who buy the slices are ignorant to. Thy have no clue what their money is funding: the proceeds from the sold pizza goes to the family of a student who recently committed suicide. The part that shocks me (and should shock most people) is that not many students know why the parent center raises money or even where the campus psychologist is located. I myself was clueless for a while until I was introduced by a friend of mine who would occasionally visit them.

Time and time again peers around me are overly exhausted because of their classes and sometimes in an over-the-top way: I care for them and this behavior worries me. I want my fellow education enthusiasts to be able to unwind and relax whilst being able to do the work for difficult classes. We need programs to help students out with the stress each experiences or better yet give the title “Campus Psychologist” a name and face students can recognize. While we do have one, not many students know this person exists. We need to help our students, the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, to achieve, not only success, but happiness alongside it. Isn't that what education should be about?

Yours truly,

Felipe R.

John Henry Francis Polytechnic High School

Honors English 10 A / Period 4

Sophomore English class in the magnet program of John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley, California.

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