Column by HannahTaylor

Freshman year, I landed a role as the flirtatious feather duster “Babette” in the fall musical “Beauty and the Beast.” In the lobby after shows, I would always hear the phrases “Wow! You’re only a freshman?” or “You did so good for a freshman!” or—my personal favorite— “I can’t believe you’re a freshman!” However, the next time I got a role as the German spy “Kitty St. Germaine” in my sophomore spring play “Cursing Mummies,” I seemed to disappear into obscurity.

I was no longer the “gifted freshman.” I was just a sophomore. This phenomenon is present in every activity and is felt by students everywhere. I always hear praise for the freshmen who make varsity sports, but never about the sophomores or juniors. It seems like when you do something significant freshman year, it’s magnified simply because of how young you are. You become a pseudo “child prodigy.” But, once you’re not the youngest, it seems as if all of your talent is ordinary.

With each new class of incoming 9th graders, I hear about the astonishing new freshmen, and I always have to look away. Not only in solidarity for the now ancient sophomores who used to be that crown jewel, but also for the scared freshmen who are crumbling under the pressure to be perfect.

Of course, there will be exceedingly talented people in all grades. Whether it is a feat of academics or scoring a goal at State, every grade is going to have its superstars. However, the phenomenon of the “gifted freshmen” stems from the fact that they are new and young. Since they were previously unheard of by this community, they are new, shiny and seemingly untouchable. Whether consciously or not, people set lower expectations for freshmen because they’re “just freshmen!” — I like to refer to this as the “freshman pass.” When this newbie surpasses the already low expectations, they get praised to a point of contention. When the bar is already set high for you at the start of your freshman year, it’s hard to top yourself.

This hyper-focus on the “gifted” freshmen is damaging not only to other members on their team, who might feel disregarded or not as important, but also to the freshmen and the burn out they can experience when trying to keep up with unachievable expectations. Ultimately, the use of labels and praise for only certain members of a team or activity can cause tension, confusion and negative feelings for everyone.

However, it looks as if this pattern of newly famous freshmen will not end anytime soon, so it is important to remember your worth outside of labels and excessive competition. In the grand scheme of things, your talent and skill isn’t dependent on much more than the work you put into it, let alone your age. If you have a passion, don’t let it die out simply because things get hard or go unrecognized.