Many students, like me, are constantly faced with the pressures of choices that influence your career choice, such as A - Level and GCSE options, Sixth Form and University applications, work experience placements; the list is endless. I've decided to look into how a few students feel about these stressful experiences.

One student commented on how parental pressures are forced onto us from a young age regarding academic choices. They stated, " My parents are constantly asking me what job I want to do and that I need to start looking for universities to go to; this is why I feel some of the pressure boils down to our parents." I believe that majority of our parents want what's best for us, but are sometimes unaware that their actions and sayings can inhibit a lot of anxieties and stress within our youth.

Another student explained that our career choices are chosen from such a young age - from when we choose our GCSE's, which then affect our A - Level choices, which leads on to affect our university options or post - 18 destinations. And to be honest we frankly dont have enough life - experience to choose a life path that will decide what we do for a living for the rest of our lives. It's a bewildering concept that choices made during our youth affect us for many years to come, and that to me, and a lot of others my age, is simply terrifying.

One last anecdote I want to share is from a student whose parents wanted her to go into accounting from a very young age - around 6 or 7. It wasnt until Year 11 that she realised that it simply was not something she wanted to go into, but felt guilt over the possibility of disappointing her parents and anxiety over choosing something that she was poassionate about. Naturally, we always want to give back to our parents for what they gave up to care and look after us, but we have got to realise that while giving back to them, we can still be in control of our own future; we cannot allow our parents to live their lives through us, as this can cause many other problems down the road, such as mental health issues, identity crisis' etc.

This is why I believe that it is so important to be confident in your own decisions and how you want to live your life, because at the end of the day, the top priority is maintaining your happiness and wellbeing, and doing this however you want to, not how someone else wants you to.