Why is there so much pressure put onto teens?

As I sit here watching the time slowly stroll by, my mind starts whirling and my brain gets twisted and stuck. I don’t understand; what’s the point? Why should I worry every night what’s going to happen tomorrow or what’s going to happen in an hour? Looking at this paper in despair, I know that I am going to fail.

Looking up, I see the clock face laughing at me knowing that I’m panicking. I can feel my pulse pounding profusely as I turn to the next page. Slowly, my face drops in despair as I see a forty mark question. Seeing a high marked question is like standing on the top of a cliff praying that you won’t fall. I make a ‘do I have to’ face at the examiner, hoping that it will end. It doesn’t!

Half an hour left and yet I think that I have finished. Half an hour of stress. Half an hour of doubt. Half an hour of torture.

Creek. Creek. The examiner is looking around making sure no one cheats. Everyone in the room holds their breaths as the old wrinkly man slowly shifts around the desks. Suddenly, I hear a big bellow in the corner. ‘How dare you?’ echoes through the hall making all of the students’ hair stand on end. A shiver crawls through my body creeping up my spine. Heads start to turn around and we see a red face in horror. The boy is petrified as he has been caught. Slam! The detective has taken the prisoner to be questioned.

Everyone gets back to work, except me! I just want this whole nightmare to be over. Sweating profusely I glare at the clock waiting for that last minute to be finally over, however, it is never over.

Now, I am supposed to be on holiday enjoying my four months break and getting ready for college but what I am actually doing is waiting. Waiting for my results to come through the door and haunt my house, to put a look of horror onto my parents’ faces and a disappointed, yet expected look onto mine. Every day I am in my room pacing back and forth, wanting to find out how badly I had done and what consequences are to come.

It’s the next day. Today is the day! The day I finally find out. Leaping out of bed like a frog, a rush of worry yet excitement rushes through my skin, flowing in my blood, circling around my bones. ‘The day is here’, I whisper to myself.

…three years later, I am graduating knowing I have a huge future in front of me. The worst part is that those horrid days, nights, weeks and months meant absolutely nothing. NOTHING! I know! Could you imagine saying this? Well, I managed to get some grades yet most of them were fails. Now look at me. It’s a bright breezy morning and I am graduating. However, my question still stands...