Those varsity blues

The world is more competitive than it was during our parents’ generation. More people are achieving As in their A Levels so places on university courses are increasingly oversubscribed.

There are more university graduates than ever before so even if we do manage a place at our first or second choice university our future is still not secure.  As a result we will have to fight our way into any job we can get our hands on whether menial or not.
These days when applying to university it is not simply enough to get the grades required for the course that we have applied for. Instead, we need to come complete with a full CV, listing our hundreds of hours working for the community, millions of books that we have read on our chosen subject and our numerous athletic endeavours. 
On top of all this, university admissions staff expect a full finalised career plan for the next 20 years after we have graduated from university.  Evidence of work experience is required too, so while in our parents’ generation working for the local supermarket to supply money for a new pair of shoes, today it is exploited to show evidence of our ‘responsibility’. 
Because of all these factors that need to be taken into consideration, the last two years of school forces teenagers today to become kings and queens of that wonderful thing, Time Management. 
In endeavours to prioritise work, the bed head look becomes a staple, make up consists of what hasn’t rubbed off from the night before and lack of time for visits to the salon results in permanent trouser wearing.
So yes, teenagers do have a lot of expectations put on them but these expectations are only what we put on ourselves as a result of an increasingly competitive world.
If we are to develop into successful adults we need to take responsibility for our own futures. Life is no less easy beyond the realm of school.