However, following a failure to the podium at the crucial 2014 National Championships with a fourth place finish, Wagner had to be placed on the Olympic Team in a controversial decision that forced another girl — Mirai Nagasu, a former Olympian and national champion herself – to sit at home. This has caused a firestorm of public reaction that can be seen around the world including articles in Russia itself, which have published images of Wagner falling on her behind.

From my perspective however, her reality may not be that different from yours or mine.

Wagner’s plight has represented a component of performance that every student can relate to: pressure.

Many times, this pressure can be placed upon oneself. Wagner stated that she would take her first national title months before the competition and succeeded in doing so. This self-created pressure can be seen on our campus, as many students give themselves expectations and feel a sense of failure when they cannot reach that expectation. Wagner also faces additional pressure, whether conscious or subconscious, from her family. Figure skating is a demanding sport and, like many skaters, Wagner has had to move across the country numerous times without her family to reach her goals.

Although MSU students may experience this pressure at a different level, most students have experienced a phone call from home asking simple and good-natured questions of, “What happened in chemistry, Johnny?” or “Did you just not study, Emily?”

I strongly believe there is a sense of pressure that performance itself creates. This pressure can come in many forms, whether it is from instructors, peers or the sources above. But together they create an atmosphere where a student that excels at the onset of a semester is expected to continue to do so, if not exceed beyond that level of academic success, by the end of the semester.
Professors and peers alike look to these students to produce work to an academic level that one had in the past, and if they fail to do so, emotional distress is evident.

Ashley Wagner faced similar pressure as the two-time defending national champion and the highest internationally ranked American skater. This pressure was compounded with pressure from the LGBT community, which adopted Wagner as their own, after she publicly criticized Russia’s LGBT policies throughout the last few months.

All eyes were on Wagner during every single fall at the 2014 National Championships, and this pressure from the sources around her and emerging from her prior success resulted in tears and a solemn, “I am sorry” to the NBC audience that watched the competition during the live, primetime broadcast.

If I could send any message to students who face these diverse levels of pressure and to Ashley — which might be tough because she reportedly has shut off her social media because of public criticisms — I would say enjoying the moment for what it is worth can change your life.

As Spartans, each one of us is at the point where this part of life will be gone before we realize it. If we allow pressure to overtake us and dictate the way we see our experience at MSU, our memories will be tarnished. When you feel the pressure come on you later this semester, I encourage you to take a second and reflect on what you have earned thus far. Be proud of your successes, and enjoy every moment you have in East Lansing.

Next week, Ashley Wagner will take to Olympic ice. Despite the pressures of expectation that have resulted from her selection and from the mixed opinions to her political statements, Ashley has become an Olympian. If she can remember this and let everything go, I am sure she can guarantee herself an Olympic experience that will last a lifetime.

Daniel Becker is a comparative cultures and politics and international relations junior. Reach him at becker76@msu.edu.