Eileen Gu's unique success not a textbook

With Eileen Gu winning the gold medal in the women's freestyle skiing big air competition at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, one of the factors that has drawn global attention is her education. Apart from skiing, the 18-year-old athlete has won admission to Stanford and has a successful career in modeling.

Eileen prompted the Chinese people into a deja vu "tiger mom" moment. Tiger parents are known for strict discipline, high expectations, and a focus on excellence. "Tiger mom" Amy Chua's daughters have given violin recitals at the Carnegie Hall, with one going to Harvard and another to Yale. One of her daughters clerked for Justice Brett Kavanaugh of the US Supreme Court.

Now, many parents in China attribute Eileen Gu's success to her mom. But parents trying to turn their children into another Eileen Gu may be dismayed to find the cut-and-paste function does not work in real life. Not to belittle the role of individual resolve and efforts, we should acknowledge that socioeconomic status and family resources play important roles in a person's development. We are not talking about Jack London who used sheer will power to blaze a trail with a pen and some paper. Sports take a lot more.

Having a child who plays tennis for the school's varsity team, I know how much sports can cost. Young athletes take private lessons, buy tennis shoes and rackets, entry fees to compete in tournaments, chipping in for snacks, all add up and become costly. In addition, rich families can afford to have a parent staying home to drive a child to sports events without having to worry about missing work and pay. No wonder rich school districts have better teams.

Yet all of these conditions are nothing compared with some other sports, say, freestyle skiing in half-pipe, slope-style or big air. Eileen was fortunate to have all the stars aligned in the direction of her success. Most of all she has a passion for skiing, an upbringing with a skier mom, and coaches who supported her.

For many Chinese parents, success stories like those of Eileen Gu, concert pianist Lang Lang, and Sophia and Louisa (children of Amy Chua) seem to suggest that pushing children to achieve success works. What they often fail to realize is that their parents have the financial, academic and social resources needed to ensure their children achieve success.

Lang Lang's parent is a musician. Amy Chua is a professor at Yale. Eileen Gu's mom Gu Yan attended Beijing University, earned her MBA at Stanford, is a skiing coach, and has a successful venture capital firm. Such parents can afford an elitist education for their children, and education which has both academic enrichment and extracurricular fulfillment.

But I don't mean to say the rest of the parents just need to lie flat and wallow in misery.

First, I encourage governments to focus on public education. If a family fails to provide the right conditions for their children to succeed achieving their goals, I hope the public education system can pick up. Let no potential Olympian stop dreaming due to their families' inability to pay for private lessons or practices. Governments, businesses and non-profit organizations, too, should do their bit to provide equitable educational opportunities for children.

Second, more universities should rethink the use of standardized tests as the main criterion for admission. To be sure, the pandemic is accelerating the demise of standardized tests as one of the many methods to assess applicants.

Those schools that have not done so should follow. Standardized test scores have come to increasingly depend on a family's riches. Tests like SAT and ACT used to measure a person's intelligence and aptitude, but obviously smart people have figured out "test-taking strategies" that rich families can take advantage of through expensive remedial instruction.

In a sense, the "double reduction" policy back in China, which refers to restrictions on school homework and private training, may play a role in easing the education inequality caused by differences of family backgrounds.

And third, I encourage fellow parents to be aware of reality. Eileen Gu is one in a million. Just do the best you can for your own children in whatever way you can. Not every child has to perform at the Carnegie Hall or compete in the Olympics to be a happy person.

Besides, success is really overrated in terms of living a fulfilling and impactful life. My son, who plays tennis, has taught me that the reason for playing tennis is learning to succeed without being mean or to fail without losing hope. There is a lot of fun hitting balls, chewing the fat with coaches and fellow players, and occasionally winning a game or two at school or in a tournament.

And my daughter, who plays the violin, has taught me the joy of service as she played with her high school band Revolution Strings for schools, churches, nursing homes and at weddings. They have found love and joy in sports and music. Their joy and love are all the satisfaction I need as a parent.

The author is a columnist based in Texas, US.