Biography of Alexandra Robbins
Anvita Devineni pd. 2
Age: 37
Profession: Journalist, Lecturer, Author
Published Works: 6 Novels
Author of Overachievers
Background
- Born in 1976
- Graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland in 1994
- Editor-in-chief for her high school newspaper: Black and White
- Graduated summa cum laude from Yale University in 1998
Has written for the following publications, and more:
- Vanity Fair
- The New Yorker
- The Washington Post
- USA Today
- Cosmopolitan
Appeared on the following sources of media, and more:
- The Oprah Winfrey Show
- 60 Minutes
- The O'Reilly Factor
- The View
- The Today Show
- Anderson Cooper 360
Her Breakthrough.
Skull and Bones
Yale's Secret Society
George Bush
Yale Graduate, member of Skull and Bones
Alexandra Robbins
Yale Graduate, member of Scroll and Key
"Skull and Bones is America's most powerful secret society. It's based at Yale, where it's headquartered in a building called the Tomb, and Skull and Bones has included among its members, presidents, including presidents George W. Bush and his father, as well as William Howard Taft, Supreme Court Chief Justices, C.I.A. officials, cabinet members, congressmen and senators." - Alexandra Robbins
Published Works
- Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life and its aspects that are often overlooked or ignored by college administrators.
- Four of her six books have been New York Times Best Sellers.
Quarterlife Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in Your Twenties
2001
Secrets of the Tomb: Skull and Bones, the Ivy League, and the Hidden Paths of Power
2002
Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis
2004
Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities
2004
The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids
2006
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth
2011
Connection to Novel
Overachievers
Plot Summary:
The story follows nine teens who go to Walt Whitman High School. They are identified by their first names and a “Perceived As” label: e.g., “Julie/Perceived As: The Superstar.” They are all "overachievers"; They carry incredible course loads, play multiple sports, and burden themselves with extracurricular activities and community services that would crush an adult. A few of these teens get crushed, too. Some achieve their college goal, while some fail. All are subjected to tremendous pressure from themselves, their families, and their school. They all suffer for their dreams of Ivy Leagues.
What Robbins' Does Fabulously
- occasionally interrupts the story of the teens to address certain issues which affect one of the teens
- explains negative effects of pressure on an international scale
- discusses how social pressure from parents and friends, drugs, drinking, and suicide all play a part in driving high school teenagers to the brink of insanity.
- puts the No Child Left Behind in a negative light by placing an emphasis on standardized tests and claims the college admissions process in the United States to be corrupt and inefficient.
The main aspect of the story deal with Ivy Leagues, and since Alexandra Robbins attended Yale University, an Ivy League, her input to this novel is very valuable.
Works Cited
"College Try." The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2013.
Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 02 June 2013.
"Guests." Alexandra Robbins. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2013.
"SUMMER 2013:." Alexandra Robbins. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 June 2013.
"You've Got Alexandra Robbins on How Outsiders Win." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Sept. 2012. Web. 02 June 2013.