<p>As the parent of a daughter who ran track, this really hit home.</p>
<p>Hope this post will NOT be about this young woman in particular, (as her parents were about to pull her from the school), but to discuss the cost of pushing oneself so hard.</p>
<p>Her father later said her death was linked to the “stress” of keeping good grades at her Ivy League school. “At the end of high school and going to Penn, she was the happiest girl on the planet. It was easy for her in high school,” “There was a lot more pressure in the classroom at Penn. She wasn’t normal, happy Madison. Now she had worries and stress.”</p>
<p>So, the article here is sensationalist, but the comments presented are thought provoking. One commentator, "Her entire life was a competition, her grades, her athletic ability, her beauty, enough already. "</p>
<p>Yes very sad indeed. A good reminder for me as a parent as our D approaches a D-1 sport and a tough major next year in addition to the new experience of moving to college, to keep it real and in perspective. Nothing is ultimately all that important that you sacrifice your health and well-being- grades or athletic performances just simply aren’t worth it in the end if it has reached this point. These are just transitory things. I appreciate this family sharing their story.</p>
<p>This indeed is a sad story. I just had a thought about keeping things in perspective (grades vs life), however, I recognized that I did not do a good job of sending home the message of keeping things in perspective while my Ss were excelling. All (really) good and (really) bad in life is temporary and as long as we can keep things in perspective, we can work through it all.</p>
<p>Very sad, also the local rumor/story is that she was on anti-depressants which have an increased risk of suicide for teenagers and young adults.</p>
<p>Penn is not ultra-competitive, but the reality for many top schools is you get a bunch of kids with 4.7 GPAs and great test scores, who were with a bunch of other kids most of whom were “average”, and now are with a whole bunch of kids who are 4.7 GPA and great test scores.</p>
<p>Literally, the first few weeks in the cafeteria, freshmen were comparing their HS stats, and you can see their faces drop when they hear how well their tablemates did on their standardized tests. I was so psyched that I was an underdog, that there I was with my not top 10%, and that I had a chance. I ended up with a B- average, not enough to get into a Fortune 500 company, but the Ivy League degree has served me extremely well elsewhere. Proud that I never got an F, but one D was a 22% (yikes!).</p>
<p>FWIW, three Penn students died within a week I believe. Rough.</p>