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William Zinsser College Pressure Essay

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William Zinsser College Pressure Essay
English
Essay 3
November 5, 2022

College pressure William Zinsser’s in his essay “College Pressure” published 1979, describes the pressures Yale students have economic, parental, and peer/self- induced. He says that these pressures make students afraid to take a risk and to try to take different paths. He wants them to believe in themselves and to try to enjoy their time in college. I have been a student at Reedley Community College for two years and the pressure I experience as a student and a mother are different from that the Yale student experienced. The first pressure that Yale students and I experience is economic pressure. Zinsser explains that in the 1970’s “tuition, room, and board at most private colleges comes
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Students apply unnecessary pressure on them by comparing themselves to their peers. Zinsser mentions that a student he calls Linda “who came in and said she was under terrible pressure because her roommate, Barbra was much brighter and studied all the time.” This student is a perfect example of making an unnecessary comparison which stresses her out. This pressure leads to students over work them-selves. “A professor will assign five-page papers”. “Several students will start writing ten-page papers to impress him.”(par.27). Instead of just following the guidelines of an assignment they are trying to shoot above and beyond the requirements. I can really relate to this pressure because I do add a lot of stress on myself. I immediately assume everyone is doing better than me which makes me work harder, but at the same time it causes me to over work myself. I have to make sure all my kids need are done, and then I stay up late to make sure all my school work is done. This pressure affects me negatively because I add a lot of stress on myself that does not need to be added. Instead of focusing on my growth academically. I am always worried about who is doing better than me in

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