Is it really worth it??

I completed my graduation this year. Unlike a lot of my friends, whose goals and aims for themselves were set, I had no idea what to do next. Well actually, I did know. I wanted to become someone successful, famous and someone who people would look upto. The only thing I didn't know was 'How?!!' Anyways, while I was thinking of my future, my brother called me and sat me down and asked me a simple question- Now what? For him, it was a simple. 'What do you want to do now? Have you thought of any course? Have you thought about working? etc. etc...The number of questions asked put quite a lot of pressure on me and in the end, not only was I confused about what to do but also feeling low about 'the way I wasted the last few years.' I decided to take time off (went for an AOL course, always helps) and on returnin, spent another couple of days to find out about different courses, the requirements needed for each course and the colleges where they are held. Now, I have decided to do 2 courses. They are related to things that I enjoy, help me earn enough moolah and give me time to continue volunteering in the Art of Living.
I was lucky to have had that much time. I could still afford to enjoy my college days (I did have an idea of what I wanted) and think about what I wanted to do. Today, kids are not that lucky. They have to know right from eighth grade about they want to do later on. Their lives are set. They study hard to get the results required for them to get in the necessary stream. For them, every minute is so important that they are ready to not go out anywhere.It's good that the kids are so focussed but don't you think it's also sad that academics has become of such importance that kids are losing sleep over it? Is it really worth it??
The month of june means over time work for the counsellors who answer to calls of stressed and nervous kids who feel that their parents will be upset if they don't get more marks than XYZ. For kids, bad results=end of their world. Should it be like that? Should academics really be such a big deal that a child's life means nothing in front of it?? If not,then why do we still put all this pressure on the kids to get good results? Why don't we encourage them to get results for their own sake and not because their parents want so?
Let's give the kids the opportunity to feel proud about how much ever they have got. Be it more than XYZ or less.