The article The Secret of Top Students by Stefanie Weisman explores the reasons for the success of the nation's top students. Many people feel that intelligence and success go hand-in-hand, that doing well as a student is effortless for "smart people." This article hits very close to home for me because it states something that I have only recently realized to be true: intelligence helps people to succeed, but great success is earned by people who work hard and devote time to the things they wish to accomplish.
My grade school years seemed effortless to many of my peers and perhaps even my parents for the longest time. It seemed effortless to me, if I am being honest with myself. I grew up making straight A's and excelling in my classes; for me, doing well in school seemed as natural as breathing. I worked hard, but I didn't realize it; being shy, I never had very many friends. The early years of my life were heavily built around doing well in school. My parents taught me that I should put forth my best effort for every assignment and I took that to heart. I cherished the friends that I had, but I didn't often spend time with friends in the same way that others did. I held my record of straight A's until my senior year of high school.
My senior year was difficult for me. My best friend suddenly left town in the middle of the night, I was struggling with Calculus, and I was left disappointed and discouraged from a series of teenage heartbreaks that left me feeling lonely and vulnerable. I remember the disappointment of my Calculus teacher and the anger from my parents better than anything else from that year. I remember coming to my parents at the end of the year and telling them that I had the third highest GPA in my grade - their response was that if I hadn't made a lower grade in Calculus, I could have been the valedictorian. It was crushing in a way that I don't think they ever fully understood. Regardless, I graduated with honors and had full scholarships to go to the school of my choice. I had made it into the Early Entry Program for aspiring veterinary students. I was certain that I was on my way to great success.
In college I quickly learned that working hard was more important than having natural intelligence. The students who were prepared to sacrifice hours of their personal time to put forth excellent work were the students who had the best grades. I had to work much harder and put forth much more effort into my college courses than I ever had put forth in grade school. I realized that Biochemistry was not for me, and that neither was Graphic Design. I realized that Elementary Education was for me, but even now I still have difficult days. After the stumble that I had taken at the end of my senior year, I struggled to find the motivation I would need to succeed in college. Sometimes, I still struggle to find it. If I had the chance to go back and give myself advice, I would tell myself that I shouldn't have ever built my self-esteem and aspirations on the expectations of others.
The article is well written. It says things that people greatly need to know: success comes within. Success comes from effort, hard work, perseverance, good time management, and perseverance. What it doesn't emphasize enough is that the individual must own all of these qualities - let support come from other people, but build the foundations of your confidence to be strong and to stand alone. After all, learning is meant to be of great self-benefit.
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