Break Chains, Not Minds

Building Construction | Opinion Writer

I watch students every day, dragging themselves into classrooms like soldiers returning to a battlefield they never volunteered for. Eyes hollow and patience thin. Motivation hanging by a thread. And for teachers? They’re not teaching, they’re surviving. The current education system stretches pressure across months so long it stops being academic rigor and starts being psychological torture.

triMESSter System

I witness student journalists every day, laptops open and pens scribbling. The so called breaks that are supposed to let them breathe and recharge are filled with training and deadlines. The trimester system was sold as a mental health intervention, yet these students’ downtime is swallowed whole by obligations that feel more like punishment than preparation.