Note to readers • This is part of a collaborative project between The Salt Lake Tribune and the Highland High School Rambler. Amplify Utah is publishing the work through its ongoing partnership with the Tribune to elevate diverse perspectives in local media through student journalism. Read more about these young Utahns’ experiences here.
Gemma Leonard grew up as “Little Miss Perfect.” In every class, other students compared themselves to her. She always had the answer, had the highest score, and always got the gold star.
That weight has been on her shoulders for years.
She fears failure. The pressure to do more became a driving force, as college applications loomed and scholarships beckoned.
“I started to just do everything for everybody else rather than doing it for myself,” Leonard said.
Leonard is not alone. According to a 2024 study by the University of Indiana, 53 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 feel pressure to be exceptional through their achievements. Future plans, achievements, and looks are the most common sources of distress.
Leonard knows outside forces are a big part of her pressure, and she feels like it has affected her passion for activities that used to be an outlet.
She has felt the impact of a tight schedule and has battled feeling overwhelmed. Daily, she tackles dance and cheer, serving as an officer in the National Honors Society, keeps a 4.0, and volunteers.
But it never feels like enough. So, she does more.
“I have to make sure all of my extracurriculars are strong enough to get me into a good college because a lot of people have a variety of extracurriculars that they do,” Leonard said. “It’s not as much about overachieving as it is the standard now. Leading up to my senior year, I felt like I had to meet or exceed the standard.”
Like many in Leonard’s situation, the danger of burnout is real. But the risk of pulling back is missing out on a scholarship, internship, or career opportunity down the line. At least that is the way Leonard motivates herself to do one more thing.
She admits that doing so much means some things don’t get her best effort. As she stacks more, her energy continues to drain. She wants to be perfect in everything but because there’s so much, she can’t always put her best self forward.
“I did a lot of things just to be able to put them on a college application and not because I genuinely wanted to do them,” Leonard said. “With some things, I didn’t put in 110 percent into what I was doing.”
Doing so much also requires sacrificing other aspects, especially socially. Planning is critical. Sometimes that means planning activities with friends weeks in advance just to make sure she has a chance to socialize. Spontaneous hangouts with friends are nearly impossible because any free time she has usually gets filled with a service project or homework.
The effort has seemed to pay off. She is the Highland Sterling Scholar in dance, has a scholarship to the University of Utah, and plans on majoring in mechanical engineering with a career goal in aerospace. But she is also holding out hope to study abroad and working on an F-1 race car, she said.
Through all the stress and pressure, Leonard has regrets. The biggest of which is constant comparison.
“Don’t compare yourself to me and don’t compare yourself to other people; your biggest competition should be yourself,” Leonard said.
But for high school students today, that is easier said than done.
