Race to Nowhere screening panelists (left to right) Eleonor Castillo, Francine Hultgren and Jennifer Rice discuss problems facing youth in America’s education system at Hoff Theater on Monday, Dec. 2. 

 

With her dad in poor health, Manar Dajani found it hard to keep up with her 16-credit workload and maintain the grades necessary to keep her scholarship.

At last night’s screening of Race to Nowhere, a documentary depicting problems students face in the education system, Dajani found herself relating to a seemingly stable young girl who committed suicide after feeling overwhelmed by schoolwork.

“All my life, I have been one of those students who you see in the documentary. It’s gotten to a point where, in college, you’re thrown into something you’re not totally prepared for,” said Dajani, a junior enrolled in letters and sciences. “In high school, I was a 4.0 student. Now, I’m dropping classes just to keep my scholarship.”

Dajani was one of about 30 students who stayed after the screening in Stamp Student Union’s Hoff Theater for a discussion with panelists Eleonor Castillo, a doctoral candidate, and education professors Francine Hultgren and Jennifer Rice. The experts used their academic, professional and personal experiences to offer insight into the documentary.

“When I see the stress level of my students, asking students what’s the normal course load here at Maryland, many of my students would say to me, ‘I’m taking five classes, I’m working, I have an internship, I need to graduate in this certain time period,” Castillo said. “As I was listening, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, five courses.’ It’s the notion that what is it systemically that we are asking of our students?”

The film highlighted stress as a consequence of the modern norm of harboring a competitive academic environment. With stress comes a “fight-or-flight” mentality, which many students in the film and audience said often leads to cheating just to keep up with work.

Erin Kelley, a senior computer engineering and mathematics major, identifies with the stress of academic requirements — stress she’s felt in both high school and college.

“You have so many assignments that you get with your buddy and say, ‘Man, I don’t have time for this. Can I just get the answers real quick, and I’ll learn it when it’s time for the exam?’” Kelley said. “There’s too much work. You do enough to get by.”

In college, Dajani said she’s felt more pressure than ever before to succeed academically.

“People think it’s just a grade, but when all that pressure is on you, you really lose it,” she said. “In high school, I could stay up all night and take the exam and ace it. Now, I can’t really get a full night sleep. I read the book over and over again. It’s all the pressure.”

A graduate student and adviser who requested anonymity because of her position said she’s experienced firsthand what students such as Dajani feel. The film discussed the robotic nature of high school, referring to the motions of going to school, continuing with sports practice or other activities and then doing homework. The graduate adviser said she’s worried about how to help students at this university.

Many students come to the university expecting to have plenty of time to figure out what they want to do, the graduate student said, but they find out later that they must start immediately if they want to finish on time.

“It’s just a game. And you play the game. And you’re successful if you can get the grade that you need, and you move on,” the student said. “Quick learners are more successful at [doing all the work] and can ‘win’ the game in a way.”