Overloaded And Unprepared Summary

Frank Bruni’s analysis of the book Overloaded and Unprepared focused on the disappointing situation that is present-day academic environment. Students are exhausted, both physically and mentally, from the challenges, expectations, and competition inherent in the education system. Bruni’s main concern seemed to be the lack of sleep youth are experiencing while pursuing the best grades, schools, scholarships, and being involved in activities. He points out that the problem with lack of rest has reached such epic proportions that one school actually trained sleep “ambassadors” to promote healthy sleep habits. Sleep deprivation can also cause other symptoms detrimental to students’ performances, future, and health. He calls for a reevaluation

Achieving good grades, excelling in sports, and accumulating an impressive list of extracurricular activities will play a great role in getting a student into the “right” school and will probably merit a helpful scholarship, or two. These are positive things as long as the activities were done for the right reason, which is to learn-- about oneself, about life after college, about what is important to the individual. However, many high school students are not doing these things for learning purposes, partly because they do not know yet what they want to do or who they are. Achieving for the sake of achievement can be counterproductive and might hinder the student from attending the school or pursuing the career that is really in line with long-term goals. During these panic-filled, terror-stricken races for the finish, students may also be establishing unhealthy life habits and negatively affecting both mental and physical health. I believe it is time to step back and take a look at what the true meaning of success and achievement is. Also, this meaning may be different for each individual person, but that is how it is supposed to be. The true goal should be to achieve happiness, health, and mental well-being. I agree with Frank Bruni and his thoughts that exhaustion causes mental, emotional, and physical issues in children’s academics, and this is a product of society’s current definitions of “achievement” and “success”. The additional issues born of these conditions only worsen the problem. Many parents are willing and sometimes eager to pull their kids off the “merry-go-round” but worry about the consequences; will my student fall behind? We should all heed Bruni’s call for a reevaluation of the definition of success and a return to sleep-- the gateway to