The class topper from school is now completely burnt out in college

Back in school, everyone used to talk about this one guy in our class like he had life fully figured out. Always scoring highest. Always disciplined. Teachers loved him. Parents compared their kids to him constantly. Even he believed hard work would automatically lead to happiness one day. Then college happened. And honestly… watching him change over the last few years has been painful. At first he still tried maintaining the same energy. Top grades. Internships. Competitive exams. LinkedIn achievements. Constant pressure to stay “ahead.” But slowly you could see something breaking internally. He stopped replying to people. Stopped showing up to outings. Stopped laughing properly. One day during a late-night conversation he randomly admitted: “I genuinely don’t remember the last time I felt relaxed.” That sentence honestly stayed with me. Because from the outside, his life still looked successful. But internally he was completely exhausted from constantly trying to meet expectations he inherited since childhood. I think a lot of Indian students quietly become machines after a point. You spend so many years chasing marks and validation that eventually you forget how to exist without pressure.