Silicon Valley is an area with a booming tech industry, and with that comes a culture that places a very high value on success. People come to Silicon Valley with promises of a better life, and many of those who move to the area hope for their children to have more opportunities than they did growing up. As an unintentional consequence, parents often put added pressure on their children to excel academically and go into a profitable or “respectable” field. In the eyes of many, that looks like a job at Google, Apple, or Meta.
Academic pressure is very prevalent in our modern world, and the closer one gets to the global tech powerhouse that is Silicon Valley, the worse it gets. A survey at Irvington High school, which is in close proximity to many large tech companies, reports that “54 percent of Irvington students suffer from depression and 80 percent show moderate to severe anxiety levels.” This is not unique. In countless schools around the area, the endless race to get into a prestigious college is constantly held over students’ heads.
Regardless of what field of study, students in the Bay Area disproportionately suffer from mental health issues and stress related to academics. Many schools in the area are guilty of having a somewhat toxic culture surrounding academic achievement. According to Naader Nehchiri (‘25), our school is quite different. At Willow Glen High, he believes that we have less pressure put on us by the school, but rather pressure often comes from external sources and depends on individual circumstances. However, when asked about why so many take AP classes, he said that “around 50% of people take these classes only because they’re seen as ‘hard’ and look good on your transcript.” Some students in the Bay Area push themselves to their absolute limit with dreams of getting into Stanford or CalTech, with the most extreme cases letting their self-worth depend on where they’re accepted. Nehchiri thinks that “a lot of what these schools are looking for…it’s not just about academics. I feel sometimes people try too hard at doing the wrong things.”
There is nothing wrong with being academically driven or choosing to take on a challenging workload. The issue comes when young people are disproportionately pushed in this direction by their parents, schools, or by peer pressure. This can cause them to give up on their other aspirations or their own sanity in the process. It’s important not to get caught up in judging oneself based on a narrow definition of success determined by ‘hustle culture’ that values productivity and overworking above all else.
