For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too and Too Busy to Notice You’re Too Busy

For Girls, It’s Be Yourself, and Be Perfect, Too
Sara Rimer
The New York Times
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
The Story*
The Summary: The trials of female high school seniors at a competetive school are examined as they discuss the pressures of their everyday lives.

Too Busy to Notice You’re Too Busy
Alina Tugend
The New York Times
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
The Story*
The Summary: The author details how our everday lives have become hectic, and whether or not this is a bad thing.

These two articles caught my eye. The first is about the new generation of super-girls. They're athletes, musicians, strait-"A" students, good friends and good daughters, among other things. These girls live hectic lives for the sake of getting into a "brand name" (well known, but not neccessarily Ivy League) college.

But then what? Breaking their backs in college to get into a good grad school or professional program? And after that, course and club work to build a resume to get that awesome job? And what after that, working 80-hours per week, raising a family, being involved in a community.

Enter artcle #2... our lives are busy. Very busy.

if at some point life seems to calm down, then it is time to take on a big construction project, get a dog or have another baby.

I'm in the middle of these two stories. I work 25+ hours per week, plus I'm a full time student, plus I'm trying to eat better and exercise, which means finding time to exercise (luckily, the weather should be getting nicer, which means more bike rides) and I'm trying to find time to cook my own meals. That and I want to move in two months, and I need to pack and find a place to live for the summer, and I still haven't heard from either school I've applied to, so I don't know where I'm even going yet.

There's a "where does it end" feeling to it all. We work really hard in high school to get into college, we work really hard in college to get a good job, we work really hard at our jobs to rake in the big bucks, which we never have time to enjoy, because we're always working so hard.

And then you have the slackers, which makes you want to shoot everyone else and then yourself, because they seem to be getting by just fine, and you work your @$$ off.

I feel inadequit when I read about these girls in high school. I didn't even take the SATs... let alone worried about an external prep coach.

This life had become insane. We've become a nation of extremes. No one's healthy, we're either too fat or too skinny. No one's average, they're either smart or stupid. You either work extra hard, or not at all. What ever happened to getting a BA from the local state school and working 40 hours/week, buying a house on a thirty year morgage, and enjoying life? Even as I type it, I detest the thought. I think we've become a nation of addicts. If it's not drugs or alcohol, it's work or media.

I want a mandatory afternoon nap, or a month of vacation... I want to feel like it's okay to relax.

*I looked at today's paper, I didn't like what I saw. So I started digging online, and found not one, but two articles that I liked... enjoy!