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Edited: 3/23/2010 11:44 AM
Worried About Going to College
I have a lot of stress going on in my life right now! I'm letting it get the best of me. I'm bringing my friends down along with me. I'm worried about college eventhough I don't graduate until 2011! I'm afraid I won't get into the college I want to go to, and I'll end up failing at life while my friends succeed in everything they want to do!
 
Not just stress with my school life, but with my home life as well.I'm supposed to be the smart child in my family because I've always done better than my siblings, and it puts too much pressure on me. I try so hard to please my father. I haven't gotten student of the month since 6th grade and he always expects me to get it again sometime. plust I'll be the only person in my family to ever go to college. Not even my father went to college and his parents never went to college. I want to break that cycle, and I hope if I get into college then my younger brother will follow me and go off to college also.
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Edited: 3/23/2010 11:44 AM
It sounds like you are putting a great amount of pressure on yourself.  It is fine to have high expectations, but when it starts to cause anxiety and worry, then it can be a sign that you need to let up a bit.  Have you ever talked about these feelings to your dad, since you think he is has certain expectations of you?  It sounds like he is very proud of you, but maybe it would help if he understood the pressure you feel to succeed in your family.
 
Have you ever heard of the "Serenity Prayer?"  It is used in 12-step programs and it is good wisdom to follow when we are feeling anxious and pressured:
 
God grant me serenity to accept the things I can not change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
 
Repeat this to yourself a few times a day and try to remember to take one day at a time.

Cynthia-Counselor
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