No Pressure!

Take a clear position on whether or not pressure is beneficial towards success.

"No pressure" is a commonly used phrase to sarcastically indicate that something is, in fact, very important and will put pressure on someone. Pressure seems to be a controversial topic on whether or not it can be helpful towards achieving success. So, does the "weight"  upon our shoulders really reflect a favorable outcome or can it lead to unhealthy amounts of  stress? I believe pressure is not beneficial towards success because it creates unnecessary expectations and may give rise to impulsive decisions that will result in the loss of morality.

Despite pressure being a motivator to overcome obstacles, pressure generates a high level of undesirable expectations that can become a burden to restrict success.  For an example in the book, Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be, Frank Bruni expands on the idea that students should not feel pressured to attend high ranked colleges but to find schools that fit who they are and what they would like the become. He also reinforces that parents relay a substantial amount of pressure on their children. "The extraordinary pressure that some parents [are] putting on their kids from the seventh or eight grade [can be dangerous because] these kids are always going to be evaluating their self worth on whether they hit the next rung society has placed in front of them" (Bruni 25). The expectations that many parents have on pushing their children to attend high rated colleges, such as the Ivy leagues, can harm the students ability to achieve success because of the constant expectation can leave an impression that there is no space for making mistakes. And this mentality is often a root cause for stress and failure because we can't be perfect humans. In spite of the Olympics, sports fans can create pressure among the athletes that may disturb their performances. Nathan Chen, a current male American figure skater at the Pyeongchang Olympics, admitted to the pressure that he feels when representing the face of American figure skating. "As much as I tried to deny it, I think I did feel the pressure a lot, thinking about medals and placement and things like that, things that were entirely out of my control. That just tightened me up, made me really cautious on the ice, and that’s not the way to skate" (Associated Press).  Many Fans unintentionally construct a considerable amount of pressure on athletes because they have a passion to see their favorite athlete win a game or medal. But in fact, the pressure negatively affects athletes because the fear of losing and disappointing so many fans limits them from freely performing their skills.

Pressure can also induce people to make impetuous decisions to lose their sense of morality and prevent them from achieving their success. Often times when pressure is discussed the idea of peer pressure comes into mind. Peer pressure is the influence that one must conform to those around them. For instance, a 16 year old average teenager, Elizabeth Wakulich died from alcohol poisoning after being dared into drinking a quart of " 107-proof Goldschlager" at a high school party. " Her [alcohol] level was around 0.600 and alcohol becomes deadly around 0.400 to 0.500 range" (Rubin and Taylor). A straight A student and cheer leader who had a great future ahead lost her life making a reckless mistake influenced by the pressure of her peers. Pressure has negative effects towards success because in Elizabeth case, her involuntary desire to fit in with her peers resulted in inability to discern between the good and bad.

Overall we continue to see the astonishing power of how pressure can affect our society whether it's positive or negative because it's an important factor that continues to shape and mold different aspects of out lives.

Citations:
Bruni, Frank. Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be: An Antidote To The College Admissions Mania. Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

Associated Press. " Nathan Chen Makes History In Free Skate, Admits Pressure Got To Him" The New York Post, 16 February 2018. https://nypost.com/2018/02/16/nathan-chen-makes-history-in-free-skate-after-short-program-fiasco/. Accessed 18, February 2018.

Bonnie Miller Rubin and T.Shawn Taylor. "Orland Park Death Proves Peer Pressure Kills" Chicago Tribune, 19, June 1997. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1997-06-19/news/9706190074_1_peer-pressure-alcohol-end-of-the-school-year. Accessed 19, February 2018.