The Overachievers
Encyclopedia
The Overachievers or The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids is a nonfiction book written by Alexandra Robbins
. Using the example of some American teenagers, it centers upon overachievement
in high school, emphasizing its negative effect in modern American society. It specifically examines the belief that being successful depends on attaining the perfect GPA and being accepted by the "right" college.
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.
She also puts the No Child Left Behind Act
in a negative light by placing an emphasis on standardized tests and claims the college admissions
process to be corrupt and inefficient.
students around in their daily lives to document their lives and incorporate them into her book. Robbins chose Whitman because "in the mid-1990s, in many ways Alexandra Robbins was these students, rushing through the same hallways, cramming anxiously for tests in the same classrooms, battling rivals on the same varsity fields." Whitman is also one of the best public schools in the nation and is located in Bethesda, Maryland
.
Alexandra Robbins
Alexandra Robbins is a journalist, lecturer, and author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life and its aspects that are often overlooked or ignored by college administrators...
. Using the example of some American teenagers, it centers upon overachievement
Overachievement
Overachievers are individuals who "perform better or achieve more success than expected." The implicit presumption is that the "overachiever" is achieving superior results through excessive effort...
in high school, emphasizing its negative effect in modern American society. It specifically examines the belief that being successful depends on attaining the perfect GPA and being accepted by the "right" college.
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
International
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
scale. She discusses how social pressure from parents and friends, drugs, drinking, and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
all play a part in driving high school teenagers to the brink of insanity.
She also puts the No Child Left Behind Act
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
in a negative light by placing an emphasis on standardized tests and claims the college admissions
College admissions
University admission or college admissions is the process through which students enter tertiary education at universities and colleges. Systems vary widely from country to country, and sometimes from institution to institution....
process to be corrupt and inefficient.
The Overachievers
For three semesters (July 20, 2004 - December 9, 2005) Alexandra Robbins followed eight Walt Whitman High SchoolWalt Whitman High School
Walt Whitman High School is a public secondary institution serving roughly the western part of Bethesda--an unincorporated suburban area of Washington, DC, in Montgomery County, Maryland. The school is named in honor of the American poet. It is fed into by Thomas W. Pyle Middle School.-History:The...
students around in their daily lives to document their lives and incorporate them into her book. Robbins chose Whitman because "in the mid-1990s, in many ways Alexandra Robbins was these students, rushing through the same hallways, cramming anxiously for tests in the same classrooms, battling rivals on the same varsity fields." Whitman is also one of the best public schools in the nation and is located in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
.
- "AP" Frank (later just Frank) is a mixed race Korean/whiteWhite peopleWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
college freshman attending Harvard. As a high school student, he had to deal with horrifying parental pressure to succeed and to come out on the top. His Korean mother's traditional Asian upbringing and values clashes against those of his white father.
- Audrey is a HispanicHispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
junior who deals with perfectionismPerfectionism (psychology)Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable...
throughout the book. She works vigorously (often on weekends) on a PhysicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
project consisting of building a bridge out of toothpicks that can hold a certain amount of weight. After crafting it, she leaves it in the physics classroom, only to discover later that it is gone. Her physics teacher decides to give her an A, but Audrey still wants first place in the competition.
- C.J., perceived as the class flirt, she has to deal with misconceptions about being an overachiever.
- Julie is a self-driven overachiever who runs cross countryCross country runningCross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
. She fools people into thinking she is confident, perfect, and has everything under control. Julie finally relaxes when she arrives at Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. Instead of taking herself so seriously and worrying so much about her image, she adopts the mantra "my life is a joke" and thus becomes immune to awkward situations.
- Pete is labeled an underachieving "meathead" who has the necessary skills to succeed but not the motivation. His image and parents' financial issues have been stifling him.
- Sam is perceived as the teacher’s pet, and an overachiever who feels that if he doesn't get in a name-brand school, his hard work in high school would be wasted.
- Taylor is popular, but she is also friends with the "smart kids" and frequently has trouble balancing these two worlds. She often hides her intelligence from her "popular" friends, knowing that they will judge her for re-taking the SAT when she got a 1490 [including a perfect score on the math section] on her first try.
- Ryland is perceived as the slacker and struggles with dropping grades, too many extracurricular activities, and a form of ADD that he uses Ritalin for, which his mother is convinced he does not have.
- The Stealth Overachiever, a mystery junior who flies under the radar, and who we later discover is someone familiar.