Stone Ridge girls are hard workers. Whether it be by choice or by chance, we made the decision to be achievers the day that we sent in our applications to attend one of the DMV’s most academically rigorous institutions. Erring on the side of perfectionism at times, we as a student body oftentimes find ourselves working a 19-hour day. From the moment we get out of bed, until the last sprint at soccer practice, and the final math problem on the homework, we generally do not give ourselves much room to relax–or to fail.
The latter statement does not imply that our student body is one homogenous community of the same type-A personality, but Stone Ridge students seem to be coded with an inherent drive to succeed. Yet, is our perpetual attitude simply the tangible product of an environment telling us to push ourselves in every way?
As residents of the DMV, we live in the top percentile–in every sense. Home to three of the top five richest neighborhoods in America and, according to Forbes, the top two most educated cities in America, (Bethesda and Potomac, respectively), the DMV does not make it socially acceptable to be inadequate. Living among the majority of society’s elite, we walk in the shadow of the most powerful city in the world–Washington D.C. With that great power comes the seemingly unavoidable responsibility for us to be the well-rounded and socially aware future leaders of our nation.
But, how can this pressure be healthy for teenagers attempting to understand themselves during their most formative years? Constantly being expected to perform at such high standards is a harrowing prospect. Teenagers, like all other human beings, must fall short sometimes in order to learn and develop; yet, our culture tells us that there is no room for error–no time for failure to help us grow. Instead, we feel we must grow by getting straight A’s paired with perfect SAT scores and acceptances to the nation’s most prestigious universities, all while maintaining positive relationships.
In this generation especially, an unforeseen amount of pressure on children stems from the high expectations of their family members–notably parents. More often than not, our parents are our biggest and most active supporters. Though most parents want their child to be their best selves, many trust that their child will do this through the natural process of character-building and self-identification, with the guiding hand of a well-equipped school community, such as Stone Ridge. Yet, oftentimes kids want nothing more than to be just like their parents, and therefore hold themselves to an extremely high standard.
For children in the DMV, this feeling of inadequacy often derives from living in the shadows of his or her parents’ accomplishments. As of 2010, 46.8 percent of residents in the D.C. metropolitan area have a college degree or higher, according to a study conducted by the United States Department of Education. Though this statistic may appear low, as we live in a time in which college is a seemingly necessary ingredient for prosperity, the DMV has a higher percentage of people with a college degree than any other metropolitan area. So, as a result, the pressure for that golden college acceptance letter is greater than ever. But luckily, specifically in our Stone Ridge community, we are blessed with parents and teachers who help us navigate this stressful process with an openness of mind that helps to alleviate the pressure we place on ourselves as driven students with high standards.
Julia Harrington, ’16, whose parents graduated from Harvard and the University of New Hampshire, says, “ My parents are supportive of many different options–whether it be to take a gap year or to maybe not even go to college at all, if that’s what is best for me. So, committing myself to this process is all coming from my end, which is extremely gratifying.”
Yet, Harrington’s situation is somewhat unique. The way in which our area, in particular, addresses the college process is, naturally, by adding more stress to the equation. The steps leading up to college admissions have become even more agonizing in the past 20 years–especially in the private school sector. As reported by The Washington Post, the 2014 Montgomery County Public Schools average SAT score was a 1650. Now compare that with Stone Ridge’s mean SAT score of 1909. With a marginal difference of over 250 points, the disparity between the two entities is clear–but what causes this score gap?
The likely answer to that question is, first and foremost, the superior education that being enrolled in a private school, such as Stone Ridge, offers. Stone Ridge prepares us for such standardized tests due most simply to its academically onerous curriculum.
Another factor that, unfortunately, most certainly plays a role in the score disparity is wealth. As an apparent result of the socioeconomic demographic of those attending private schools, many of us have the means to attend a private SAT or ACT tutor.
However, paying for courses at a standardized test specialist no longer offers a leg up when test day rolls around. Getting a private tutor is now yet another palpable result of the pressure of living in the DMV–it is what you must do to compete with everyone else. “It is the social norm now to get an SAT or ACT tutor,” says Grace Heming , ’17. “If I did not get one, everyone else would understand the test in a better and more in depth way than I would.”
So, growing up as students in an environment such as the DMV has ostensibly altered our development and decisions–for better or for worse. As we struggle to maintain balance in our everyday lives, we must keep in mind our access to incredible resources as Stone Ridge students. In spite of these seemingly inescapable pressures, we have Stone Ridge–and that, in itself, is at least one benefit of living where we do.
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