Thesis statement: “Pressure can burst a pipe or pressure can make a diamond”

Different people react differently to pressure. Some people take that as motivation, and some people let it destroy them.

    As the alarm goes off, I put the pillow over my head and try to drown out the noise. I hate waking up early, especially for school. As I hear my mom yell my name for what seems like the 100^th time, I finally decide to get up and get ready. I hate school. I hate dealing with the high school drama, fake friends, rude teachers, the stress, and etc. Same old crap, just a different day. People assume that I get it so easy because my parents are rich and I am naturally smart, but it’s the complete opposite. I have to work a hundred times harder than any of them because of my parent’s high expectations. My mom and dad both expect me to get straight A’s, and anything lower than that is basically failing. Now with our SATS today, I’m under even more pressure. They will decide if I get into Harvard University or not. Ever since I can remember all I’ve heard my parents say is that once I graduate high school, I will go into Harvard just like how they did, and handle my dad’s business. If I don’t get in, I will never hear the end of it.

  

     I rush out the door without bothering to grab a bite to eat and start my journey to the school. I park my car, and start my walk to my classroom. As I enter, everyone is already seated with their pencils and erasers on their desk, ready to go. As I sat in my seat, I could feel the butterflies swarming in my stomach. My hands were sweating, and my heart was beating fast. I couldn’t do this. It feels like anything that I had learned in the past couple months went flying out the door. I couldn’t remember a single thing. As our teacher walked in, he placed a test in front of each of us and told us to start. I flipped through the pages trying to find a question that I knew the answer too, but there was none. My head felt like it was going to explode from all the pressure I was feeling. I nervously look around the room to see if the others knew what they were doing, and then I look back down at my paper. I pull at my hair in frustration, but everything was pointless now. I just couldn’t do this anymore.

  

    With a quick move, I pick up my bag and I’m out the door before the teacher could even finish saying my name. I run to my car and desperately search my bag for my keys. Once my hand touches the cool metal of the key, I race out the parking lot without looking back. Once I’m far away from the school, I pull over to the side of the road, and just cry. I sit and cry for what seems like forever. I messed everything up. All that time I spent studying for the SATS, all gone to waste. My future is nothing now.

Some people do their best work when under pressure, but for others, the pressure can be too much and they just cave.