It’s hard to be a gifted child in this day and age. Our society has a long history of placing too much pressure on young people. Working has become a lot more difficult, and with more of the generational youth entering the work field, it’s been even harder. When the pandemic took a turn for the worse, it caused gifted people to have ordinary behavior. Gifted children in particular have faced these challenges from the uprooting of their education from in-person to online.

“Gifted Kid Burnout” is a popular phrase that describes the immense pressure on these students and young adults. The meaning behind it comes from high-achieving children who were too used to success and not fond of failure. It’s clear that many students struggle with academic validation. Academic validation is a key factor for students who wish to overachieve.

When high-achieving students do not succeed in the way they desire, they have a breakdown. This could be anything from changing a minor detail in their life to drastically changing their entire routine. These spirals need to be taken seriously, as the path to success hasn’t been easy for these young adults.

The portrayal of gifted children is very popular on television and in the film industry. A perfect example of an overachiever is Rory Gilmore, from the hit TV show “Gilmore Girls.” Rory was viewed as the perfect student. She was beloved by everyone in her town, and most people had extremely high expectations of her. She spent her entire high school career at an academic private high school, where she received nothing but straight A’s. The storyline of this young girl mainly followed her reading or studying. Rory had never faced criticism or failure before. She was accepted into some of the best colleges in the country, including Harvard.

She was accepted to Yale due to her status. Rory was successful in college until she received her first piece of criticism when she was told she “didn’t have it” when it came to being a journalist. After she was told this, she completely fell apart and even became involved in a federal crime. After this, she continued to fail, leading to her departure from Yale. She failed even into adulthood. She became a 32-year-old who couldn’t catch her big break in the continuation of Gilmore Girls called “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” which was a Netflix original series that displayed the characters ten years after the end of the original show.

Rory Gilmore is one of many examples of the difficulties that come with being a gifted child. Overachieving students can face these struggles for the rest of their lives. Being successful involves failing, which can be a hard concept to grasp. Failing is ultimately a part of growth. Growing up and entering adulthood can take away from the present. Students face many challenges and pressures along the way, and these things must be taken into consideration. It’s important to abolish the idea of perfection and put an end to the fear of failure.