Teen's stand up to the new Grad Portfolio

To Whom It May Concern:

The graduation Portfolio is supposed to be beneficial to High School students, but as many have experienced; it has added an increasing load of stress and confusion. The Portfolio is designed to help students gather information about them selves with communication, problem solving, critical thinking, time and information management and team work. It is expected to take place in school, at home and in the community. Students are expected to complete the Portfolio before graduating from High School in grade twelve. As a student, I see the benefits of the Portfolio, in helping students understand what they can achieve, and helping them gather more information in understanding their abilities for the future. It also adds and numerous amount of stress, students get homework, and although some of the in class projects do help with the Grad Portfolio, its hard to find time to work on the Portfolio outside of school and in the community. As it is with out the Portfolio enough stress occurs with teenagers in high school alone. High School is an emotional critical time of change for teens and many already have a tough time trying to pass. For some students the Portfolio with come with ease, because they are already well organized and interested in working with the requirements of the Grad Portfolio, others find it frustrating, and hard to fit in with their busy schedules, whether that is sports, homework, work, or just hanging out with friends. High School is a time when kids mature into adults, and through that road of maturity all experience an emotion time. And we all know that most teens tend to slack, so how is it that the Government can expect us (the students of British Columbia) to for fill the requirements and still get all our homework and classes done with a passing mark. Enough students suffer already with the struggles of school work, why put additional stress on students when they are already experiencing the complications of maturing into adults and passing high school. Sure the idea of helping students get into good colleges and universities is a great idea, but it doesnt look like the Portfolio is the best way of achieving that. Cant we think of something a little better?