People are constantly bombarded with ways in which to try to
fill their life.
There is always something else to get, or someone else to be,
but in the end you are left looking for more.
As a society, we are caught trying to find a purpose in every
avenue provided. People look for purpose and fulfillment in their
relationships, job, talents, faith or even status. In high school,
it is no different, barring the job part.
People are constantly bombarded with ways in which to try to fill their life.
There is always something else to get, or someone else to be, but in the end you are left looking for more.
As a society, we are caught trying to find a purpose in every avenue provided. People look for purpose and fulfillment in their relationships, job, talents, faith or even status. In high school, it is no different, barring the job part.
Though it might be a smaller arena, high school students deal with the same issue but multiplied intensity. What I mean by multiplied intensity is, students are in a environment that, for the next four years, will be their life. You can’t really run from it. During those brief but vital years a student is expected to balance school, social and family life. This is all while having your parents’ expectations breathing down your neck and your friends’ input pulling you by the arm, while trying to keep your head above water.
Students can also expect the added stress of trying to place well for college. By saying this, I am by no way minimizing what adults do because they do most of that, too. I’m saying that high school students deal with this all while trying to discover who they are and where they fit in society. All the searching may not be as significant as an adult vying for that promotion to their dream job, but students still deal with the difficult task of finding fulfillment in the maze of life, but in a constricted world we call high school.
For me, it has been a task that has left me quite exhausted and confused. With all the information being thrown at me the past three or four years, it remains hard to find a secure idea. One teacher is telling you their spin on how the world runs while another says something completely different. Throw in parents’ input and peers’ advice and one can see where confusion can set in.
Through all of the searching and trying to find fulfillment in life and in school I have found that nothing has helped me more than going back to the foundation of who you are and what you believe. You can’t build your life off other peoples’ experiences, and you can’t expect to live life through one person’s opinion.
The thing that I am most fulfilled in, well, it’s faith – in Jesus Christ. That may not go along with your beliefs and such, but it’s just what I have come to find. Take my words with a grain of salt.
The best of luck for all the people who are trying to find their purpose and fulfillment in life. It is a struggle … keep your head afloat.
Ben Bannister is a senior at San Benito High School.
