Sports have always been a huge part of society and today’s culture. So much of the population plays a sport that it is almost considered uncommon to not play one. Being in ninth grade, I am shocked that most of my peers have already begun thinking about college. Most of them even know that they will be playing their current sport at the college level when enrolled. Some are even in the process of or have already committed to a college for their sport, which amazes me. We are not even truly high schoolers yet. We should be focusing on other things besides college until at least junior year. We already have little free time with our school work, but adding sports with the addition of college is too much.

In English class, we were discussing a topic relating to the play we are reading called “The Wolves.” One of the topics we discussed were scholarships and how early you have to plan your college education. We discussed how students are pressured to do well in every aspect of their life, including their sport. Balancing sports and academics and social life is a difficult task, but it grows to be even harder when the pressure of college and parents is thrown into the mix. Some students are not even doing their sport for the fun or enjoyment anymore and just feel that they have started it so they must finish it and succeed.

Parents are also a major factor in this topic on college experience. Not only are parents focused on the grades and academics of their child, but they also focus on getting their middle schooler into college. In light of the Varsity Blue scandal, this topic is obvious and prominently shown. Parents are so focused on their student’s college education, and will only settle for the best, even if their child is not as qualified as they think they are.

Students at Harvard-Westlake are faced with the challenges of college daily, and it can be extremely overwhelming. Having to do homework for every class as well as focus on social life, and then adding on additional sporting concerns is stressful and should be considered uncalled for us at such a young age. Being more well-balanced is important, so having the application process for athletes be less rigorous and begin at such a young age would be extremely beneficial and surely would change the lives of middle/high school athletes.