Future and Now

Here, I am, sitting in a college library as a junior in high school. What am I doing here? Well, I'm supposed to be studying for a math test... FOR 3 HOURS. Completely ridiculous, I know. Trust me, were it up to me, I wouldn't even be here, but its not up to me.
For the past 3 years almost nothing has been up to me. Sure, I ultimately decide whether I take Advance Composition World English over a regular English class. Sure, I'm the one who fills in the bubble for a 7 period school day. But is it really up to me?

More and more it seems like I have less and less control over my life. Everyday I'm given ultimatums about my future, choosing between classes, scholarships, extracurricular activities, and those are only the ones that have to do with school. But, I don't have time to think about anything else. I don't have "all the time in the world" to hang out with friends. I don't have the time to just sit around the house and read a good book. Students come down to three categories. Those who do their best in every class, those who manage to cheat the system, and those who have just given up.
Those who do their best are still gripping tightly to the idea that education is everything, and by education I don't mean just the grade or GPA, I mean the knowledge they store and the theories they learn.
Those who have given up, have felt the enormous pressure from society and their parents, and they've decided that it isn't worth it. They've decided that their time is spent more wisely playing video games and going to the movies. Don't get me wrong, I love my movies and games as much as the next kid, but the problem is that kids these days don't understand the concept of balancing work and play. They are given the reward without putting in any work. They don't understand how lucky they are sometimes. When I look around at the students at my school, I'm shocked to see how spoiled some of these kids are. They drive brand new cars, they get all the latest games, and they don't have to pay for a thing. When asked what their grades are, they'll just laugh and say "probably like a D or whatever" and shrug it off as if it doesn't matter. When I see this, my jaw drops.
Lastly there are those kids who on paper look great, but in reality are just as bad as the slackers. The ones who get the questions and answers to a test from the class before; the ones who copy others homework assignments or just bs them. These are the students that realize the importance of getting a good grade, but don't realize the importance of actually getting an education. If I had to guess, I would say that at least 70% of students are like this, and because of that we have turned into a grade-driven society fueled by the pressure of getting into a "good college".
All this pressure coming from school, our parents and even our peers, does us no good. Students have lost the ability to think creatively, to be their own person. It was already bad enough that we were turning into conformist zombies caring more about what brand of clothing people have in common instead of what hobbies they have in common, but now we have to deal with the fact that people are being standardized by their classes and how may AP's they are taking. Highschool is supposed to be a fun time in our lives, but now we deal with more stress than our parents.
I just think that all this is stupid. Hell yeah I care about my education, but you don't see me cheating on my math test. I like to learn and I like to read, as in I read books for fun. When I tell people that, they flip out, they can't even begin to fathom how I can read and enjoy it. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of everyone trying to be the same, and trying to bs their way into college.