When you enter high school your perception of the entire world changes. Well, maybe not the entire world, but what you come to value and appreciate change significantly from your middle school days.

In middle school I wanted to make sure I was noticed in my fitted-T that did not particularly stand out in any way except that it read "HOLLISTER" in bold letters across the front. And volunteering to read out loud was shameful, especially if it included reading an embarrassing romantic Shakespeare scene. And in middle school, your parents accept this: You're young, and although you need to be focused, such silly matters are acceptable as part of your preteen years.

When high school hits you, though, the pressure seems to increase. Until recently, when I thought of myself being put under pressure, I always associated it with my peers and the school environment that I'm in. It's true to some extent, that the clothes you wear, the people you hang out with, what you do on your weekends, and how much you are engaged in your school work, are probably the result of the people you surround yourself with.

But who has known you the longest? Your parents and relatives. Groups of friends change, and then so will some of your perceptions and goals. But honestly, isn't the underlying pressure all coming from the parents? Many students hear the horror stories of parents who lock their kids in their rooms to study for the SAT for hours when they have only just entered their freshman year. No one thinks of their parents as being "too pushy" or putting too much pressure on them. They're nowhere near as bad as those parents you've read about in books, right?

It seems to me that parents are subtle. They are that voice in the back of your head. Sure, they haven't directly yelled at you to get started on your math homework or else you will fail. No. It tends to be the students who put that pressure on themselves. They know the math test is tomorrow, and even if they feel pretty confident in their abilities, chances are they will still spend a little time reviewing.

Some people may simply be programmed this way. Or they may say that it's all a result of their friends who get straight A's that they're driven to put in that extra time. But in most cases, although you may be unaware of it, your parents do play a significant part in the pressure you seem to put on yourself.

I know that I have been raised hearing stories about parents who finished top in their classes, maintained straight A's, got athletic and academic scholarships, won student council executive president, etc. And in my head, although for the most part I'm unaware of it, I take all these stories and interpret them as: "I was perfect. Maybe you should try it."

Uni students especially seem to have parents who are very intelligent, with good jobs and an endless list of achievements. So when we hear these stories of our parents, we feel pressured to be that way ourselves. They don't come out and say it. "I was once the most well-rounded, highest achiever in America, and if you tried, then maybe you could be like me, too." Instead we put it on ourselves.

They're the voices in the back of our heads that are making us stay up too late on a Wednesday night after soccer practice to finish all of our homework. We've heard these stories all our lives, but as high school begins (the time that begins to determine the rest of your life), you start to take it all into account (whether you're conscious or this or not).

Most parents don't actually want to be putting this pressure on their kids. They don't strive to be like those killer moms you hear about in Alexandra Robbins' "The Overachievers," and most likely they're just as unaware of the pressure they're putting on you as anyone else. Sure, they don't want you to slack off either, but I doubt the pressure you feel is what they were aiming for.

There's one thing to keep in mind about parents: You only know as much about them as they let you. Sure your dad might continually tell you about his proudest moment when he won the cross country state meet, but he might leave out the fact that he never once played during his JV basketball games. Although you may feel you haven't lived up to the childhood your parents experienced, chances are your lives are truly quite similar.