BOOK OF THE WEEK: "What Made Maddy Run" by Kate Fagan

I'm not entirely sure what made me pick up the book when I saw on the Barnes & Noble bookshelf a few weeks ago. Maybe it's because I've always been someone who cares deeply about the study of mental health - especially in young adults, but also Madison Holleran was an Ivy League student-athlete.

There is an unfair stigma that is thrown on Ivy League students, not only student-athletes. On the outside looking in, everyone assumes these kids have it put together. They are excellent students, many receiving 4.0 GPAs and 1600s on their SATs in high school; their extracurriculars are immaculate, four-time varsity soccer player two-time captain, National Honors Society, president of the cooking club. They look like they have it put together. But really they are just kids.

The quote on the back cover by Washington Post columnist Carlos Lozada sums up the pressure young college kids face today. By the letter of the law, college students are legally adults, but when you really look deeper, they are still just kids. They are 18-, 19-, 20-, 21-year-old kids who  are thrown into a very competitive environment and many living far away from home for the first time in their lives. Now add the universities throwing a lot on its students. It's arduous and stressful.

Let's have a little bit of fun. Now, throw another ball into the arena: social media. Today's college students are glued to their phone. If it's not Twitter or Facebook, it's Instagram or SnapChat. They are are seconds away from sending their friends the perfect picture from a Saturday night party on campus. Social media is not real life.

We look at college students students - especially those at Ivy institutions - as appearing like they have it all together. At Penn, the students actually have a term for this it's called "Penn Face" - "putting on a facade that you're perfect and your life is perfect, no matter how pressured you are to keep up with school and social life."

That type of attitude and outlook is begging for trouble. Nobody's life is perfect. Everyone is fighting some inner struggle, but the best thing to do is acknowledge their struggle with mental health and anxiety. It is what allows them to keep playing by talking to somebody about the things that are going on.

On side note, the hyperlinked article, from four years ago, that defines "Penn Face" is interesting. A Penn freshman, at time, indicated Penn's students' disdain for its Ivy counterpart, Harvard.

I wasn't a student at Harvard, BUT I can tell you from experience, Harvard is the institution - not just in the Ivy League but in nation - that is furthest along when it comes to prioritizing both physical and mental health. I've worked with many people on the campus and when I say they truly care about their students, it is genuinely sincere - and that goes for staff as well as the students. Everyone is there to help each other.

If you're in college athletics or work with high school and college age students, then this is a must read book. It gives superb insight into the life of students who are trying to find their way in this life.

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