Madison Holleran

Its sad that I've already forgotten about Madison Holleran, a track freshman at Penn who jumped to her death in 2014.  She was a perfectionist.  Despite being seemingly perfect to the outside world, it seems as if she didn't share those feelings about herself. 

Here is some reading about it, including the note that she left.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2920310/Parents-share-tragic-suicide-note-Ivy-League-track-star-19-jumped-death-parking-garage-left-gifts-friends-family-members-nearby.html

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20894428,00.html

I need a picture of her in my office to remind me of her.  I'm part perfectionist.  Many of my student-athletes are perfectionists.  In fact I know of one who is researching perfectionism in cross country athletes as part of their education.  I have another who chose that same topic to write a paper on. 

I see perfectionists every day.  It's easy to dismiss them as being overly nervous and stress balls.  But these people need outlets.  They need reminders that they really are perfect.  They need to know that they are doing the best they can and that they should be proud of what they have accomplished. 

I know of kids who get four or five hours of sleep...and maybe some others who get less than that...because they are freaking out about a test and their GPA. 

One of the hardest thing about my job is figuring out the balance point for working with perfectionists.  For the most part I let them do what they do, stay positive and reassure them that they really are as great as they want to be.  It's hard to know how far to push them to succeed.  Do I push them to attain that goal of a 4.0?  Or would not accomplishing such a feat make them depressed?  Would they over do it to reach that goal? 

Knowing when, how and if to push perfectionists is one of the hardest things about what I do.