A lot of schools eliminate the concept of individuality when provided with a community of students. I believe students should be taught to follow their passion not how to be qualified for a 9-5 job. An anonymous survey stated that only 22% of former high school students followed their passion and a majority of these students suffered or suffer from depression or anxiety and don’t get the representation they need to overcome obstacles and truly succeed. With social media and and some pretty recent standards it’s proven difficult for teenagers to have a full understanding of their identity. Traditional schools have understandably set in stone curriculums and collected goals that are non-flexible. Even though this goal varies within fields and interest there is still a seemingly required expectation to meet. I believe that these expectations and goals are a waste of the wonderfully complex process of human life and brain development. Why become a paper salesman when you can become an advocate for global warming? I think that the coping mechanism to a lost individuality is to adopt the mindset of “Life is meaningless” Life is only truly meaningless when it’s spent worrying about meeting expectations. I’m hoping that more and more young people start to recognize that they are compromising their very identity, but I think that schools should stop telling students to find who they are and start implementing a plan of creating. Our lives mean so much more than anyone will ever comprehend, so why not take advantage of that and make a difference?