The system runs on fear, guilt, and shame. It only works because everyone plays along. Seniors, wired to fear irrelevance, sacrifice rest for resumes. What was once a private journey into adulthood now plays out in real time, tracked and compared by a public audience. Social media fetishizes productivity, making overwork aspirational. Once you notice the machine, it is everywhere. A 2019 article in The New York Times characterized hustle culture as “relentlessly positive, devoid of humor, and impossible to escape.”
The stress students feel is not baseless. The stress has been the subject of many studies, surveys as well as op-eds. Wages have barely kept up with inflation since the 1970s. Today’s graduates are entering adulthood with record-high student debt and rapidly rising housing costs. For many, a steady income and a place to live no longer feel like basic expectations but distant milestones. It makes sense that students pursue careers in finance, tech, or consulting, even when the personal cost is high, as reported in a 2024 op-ed appearing in The New York Times.
The emotional toll is often overlooked. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of young adults aged 18 to 25 who experienced a depressive episode doubled, according to a 2020 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Nearly two-thirds of college students report overwhelming anxiety in a given year, according to The Health Minds Study. The cocktail of coursework, competition, and uncertainty is taking its toll. For seniors, that pressure peaks during the college-to-career leap.
In response to this growing crisis, some institutions are rethinking how they support students. Rather than lowering expectations, they are finding ways to integrate mental health into career preparation. At City University of New York (CUNY), the Career Launch program connects students with paid summer internships while offering mentorship and wraparound services aimed at easing the emotional stress of workforce preparation. At LaGuardia Community College, students can train as certified peer mental health specialists through a program that blends classroom instruction with hands-on internships at mental health agencies, equipping them to support classmates through transition stress and emotional challenges. SUNY Orange, through its BRIDGES program, hosts workshops that combine resume prep with resilience training, helping students build both job readiness and coping strategies for stress, anxiety, and uncertainty.
These programs are not just feel-good add-ons. They reflect an understanding that ambition and well-being are not mutually exclusive. Students should not have to burn out to prove they are ready. If we want them to thrive, we need to meet them where they are: anxious, capable, and craving something more than just a title. In hindsight, the all-nighters and existential dread may seem excessive. At that moment, they feel like they are surviving. Most students will not follow a single straight line from graduation to their dream job, and that’s not a failure – it is normal. What matters is knowing you are not alone in the uncertainty. The path might not be clear, but it is still yours to walk. And maybe, with the right support, the first step does not have to be so heavy.
