How Does Academic Pressure Affect Student’s Summers?

Summer break is supposed to be a time of relaxation where a student can ease off of their school duties. Students during summer break partake in various leisurely activities, whether it’s travel, hanging out with friends, playing sports, catching up on hobbies, or just idling around doing nothing. However, in the Masterman community especially, it’s no secret that academic pressure is commonplace and often results in students loading up their college resumes with programs, sports, volunteering, and various academic activities. To investigate just how much time Masterman students are planning to spend on extracurricular activities during the summer, students responded to questions concerning their summer plans and their opinions about the general competitive academic atmosphere at Masterman. 

When asked about summer plans, sophomore Aaryan Gada stated, “I am doing an internship at the Philly Board of Pensions. I’d like to get some real world experience under my belt, and the Philly Board of Pensions is a public service that I believe is good.” When questioned as to whether or not he thinks gaining real world experience is worth the loss of time during the summer, Aaryan said, “I haven’t done them yet so can’t tell you objectively, but if I had to speculate, then I would assume they are a great trade off of time” Aaryan expresses that, while he doesn’t feel academic pressure, he wants to gain experience through his undertaking of extracurriculars during his summer, and he recommends other students do the same.

Another Masterman student, who chose to stay anonymous, stated, "I'm going to get experience using AI to help calculate finance.”  When questioned as to whether they were interested in doing the program out of their own curiosity or due to academic pressure, the student said it was for both reasons. The student explained that they intend to use summer programs as a way to explore different fields and figure out what truly interests them when it comes to a future career path or college major. 

Sophomore Tania Wasim explained, “I’m in a swimming class with the YMCA, and I also volunteer there. I also volunteer at my mosque, the Muslim Youth Center of Philadelphia.” When asked about whether or not she faces pressure as a student to engage in more academic activities, Tania responded, “Yes, I do. I’ve seen many of my friends get into prestigious programs.” Tania is not upset at the time that these programs take, and instead encourages her peers to partake in programs during the summer.

While these interviews are of just three students, they give insight into the Masterman student’s commitment to succeed even when it means sacrificing leisure time during the summer. While academic pressure can be toxic in many circumstances, students at Masterman do their best to use that pressure as a chance to take opportunities and try something new.