To their minds it is still something like an obligation and this may be attributed to the pressure their parents and teachers used to put on them.

something 在这里指代"某件事物"或"某种情况"，用于模糊指代不具体说明的事物。 like 在这里是介词，表示"像...一样"，用于进行比较或类比。 something like 这个短语表示"有点像..."或"类似于..."，用来表达一种不太确定的相似性。