High school has increasingly become a competitive forum for “Golden Ticket” opportunities, such as perfect grades, college admissions, and highly prestigious awards and extracurriculars. In 2023, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of adolescents reporting poor mental health is increasing, and four in 10 high school students faced mental health problems. 

Senior Jonah Mwilambwe said the fight for “Golden Ticket” opportunities was a large factor in the rising mental health problems among teens.

“High school has gotten a lot more competitive (than past years),” Mwilambwe said. “For example, a large majority of teenagers now are doing research that usually post-graduate students do and starting non-profits and other organizations. A lot of people feel unprepared for college applications or feel like they are at a disadvantage if they don’t participate in several extracurricular activities and start a business.”

Senior Kaia Starnino said she shares the same sentiment and agreed with Mwilambwe. 

“Kids are literally not able to be kids anymore,” Starnino said. “Everyone is in several extracurriculars and sports, and aside from that, feel compelled to do a lot of extra work, like research or starting different things like organizations, because everyone around them is doing the same thing. And if they choose to prioritize themselves and their own well-being, they often feel like they are falling behind everyone else and won’t be able to get into a good college.”

Starnino said this competitiveness has fueled high school students to lose passion in their own work. 

“A lot of students don’t even care about the stuff they are doing, and they are just doing it to put on their resume,” Starnino said. “So many students found clubs or organizations that are just meant to pad their college applications and resumes, and then drop it immediately after decisions come out. It is like a cyclical process where students keep doing these things to appear more competitive than other applicants, and then those other applicants have to increase what they do too. At the end of the day, it degrades any remaining passion left at all in students because they don’t inherently care about their work, just their resume.”

Peter Beck, math teacher at this school, said he had seen a large increase in competitiveness for these “Golden Ticket” opportunities in recent years. 

“Students are getting more competitive and more and more are applying to more prestigious programs and awards,” Beck said. “Many students are terrified of getting grades lower than A’s, even if it is just a B-plus or an A-minus, and due to grade inflation, they are usually expecting to get A’s.”

Mwilambwe said he agreed with Beck, and said perfect grades were a common misconception among high school students. 

“Many students think their life is over because of a B on a transcript,” Mwilambwe said. “Everyone thinks to get into a good school (after high school) you need to have straight A’s, but that’s not the case at all. The same goes for extracurriculars. Students don’t need to start a nonprofit or cure cancer to get into the school they want to go to. Not understanding that has caused a lot of mental pressure on teenagers because they feel like they are failing if they don’t do these things.”

Starnino said she agreed with Mwilambwe and Beck, and said she encouraged people to follow what they had a true passion for instead of joining the “Golden Ticket” rat-race.

“You can go to Harvard and be miserable and go to another really good school that is ranked lower and be really really happy,” Starnino said. “At the end of the day, you should do what makes you happy, not what you feel obligated to do or what you think your parents want.”