From school, to work, to sports and social lives, the amount of pressure that is being put on teenagers increases every day.  There is quite often a high expectation on what should be done.

Grades need to be kept high, sporting events need to be won, money needs to be made, and social status needs to be kept up. All of these things are in the back of a teenagers mind.

Unfortunately sometimes it becomes too much. A person can only handle so much until they crack. That is exactly what happened to Madison Holleran, a 19 year old track star at University of Pennsylvania. She had a lot going for her. She was a very likeable, popular, incredibly smart, and amazing at track. No one saw her suicide coming.

  It was a normal day, and this news left the entire campus, and her friends and family stunned. She had thrown herself off the top of a  parking garage. There was no unhappy change that anyone could see. She even had just posted a picture of a beautiful park exactly one hour before her suicide.

A close friend had reported that she was stressing out about her grades. She had a 3.5 GPA, which most would be very happy with. It was the pressure that was put on her to do her best, and apparently she thought that was not her best. Madison is just one example of what pressure does. There are many similar stories.

What many people don’t see is that often times, someone who is going through rough times might not show it. It is important to stress the fact that if you are feeling overwhelmed, or under a lot of pressure, you should not be afraid to get help. Sometimes all someone needs is to talk.

It is heartbreaking to see how many people resort to suicide because of circumstances in their lives. The focus of life should not be to impress everyone around you, and try to make them happy, but to make yourself happy. If you are not happy, don’t be afraid to make a change. Sometimes change is good.