The Overachievers Essay

“High school, especially, has become a game of survivor, a hypercompetition that swirls around the precepts ‘Outwit, Outplay, Outlast’” (Robbins 390). The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a nonfiction book written by Alexandra Robbins who emphasizes in the negative effects of modern American education. Robbins uses numerous personal examples from a group of nine teenagers from Walt Whitman High School. The reason why she selected Whitman High School is not because it is know as one of the best public school, but because in mid 1990s, she was one of these students rushing through the same hallways. This was where she became an overachiever, and discovered it firsthand.
First of all, educational system in this contemporary era

has shifted its principle to number based analysis. This new approach creates a drastic change towards over testing; as a result, this causes an extreme transformation on the college admission process. In a normal college application, the numbers are the only data that represents the ability of the student. SAT, that one score is what determines their future lives as an adult. Decades ago, college was a privilege. Now, getting into a college is war. “When I [Alexandra Robbins] was in high school, to get into one of the ‘good’ colleges, well-roundedness was good enough. Today even perfect grades and SAT scores won’t necessarily guarantee entrance into ‘HYP’, the acronym that has become the ultimate overachiever crown” (Robbins, 14). Students are no longer guaranteed to attend their college of choice not by financial issue, but because of the harsh selection of admission process. She also puts the No Child Left Behind Act in a negative light and claims the college admissions process to be corrupt and inefficient.
Next, “This book is about pressure – about how the pressure on students, parents, teachers, and graduates has whirled out of control and will continue to do so exponentially unless there is a massive change of attitudes and educational policies” (Robbins, 15).

The intensifying pressures to succeed and the drive of the overachiever culture have consequences that reach far beyond the damaged psyches of teenage college applicants, though that effect alone should be enough for one to take notice. Not only can stress affect your mental health, it can also affect your physical health. According to the article, Healthy Lifestyle Stress Management, “Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.” Overachiever culture affects not only overachievers and the college application process, but also the U.S. education system as a whole, non-overachieving students, the college counseling and test prep industries, the tendency to cheat and use cutthroat tactics to get ahead, the way parents raise children, and campus drug culture. It contributes directly to young adults’ paralyzing fear of failure. There are no more students out in the streets filling it with laughter. The intense pressure is “believed to be a major factor in the 114 percent spike in suicide rates among fifteen to nineteen year olds between 1980 and 2002” (Robbins, 15). Throughout the work, the author follows many diverse students who have a lifestyle where overachieving takes priority. She also occasionally interrupts to address certain issues which affect one of the teens, and explains its negative effect on an international scale. She discusses how social pressure from parents and friends, drugs, drinking, and suicide all play a part in driving high school teenagers to the brink of insanity. “Overachiever culture is disturbing not because it exists but because it has become a way of life” (Robbins,

17).

Overall, The Overachievers serves as a reminder that school should be a place to learn and grow, not a battlefield constantly wearing students down. While making good grades should be in every graduate's checklist, it should not absorb their top priorities in the academic system. Kids should not push their limits and overdo things in order to succeed because it will create stress and the result would end up being worse than ever. The author reminds high school students to stay true to who he or she is despite the possible pressures and frustrations that may arrive in life.

Works Cited
Robbins, Alexandra. The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, Hyperion, 2006.
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Stress symptoms: Effects on your body and behavior.” Healthy Lifestyle. 28
April 2016. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.