I was the kid in elementary school who the teacher would put in charge of the class if he had to step out. I would write down the names of students who spoke on the chalkboard and give my official report when the teacher returned. I would correct teachers if the answer they wrote to the math problem on the board was wrong or if a word was misspelled. Then I moved to the suburbs, went to public school, and became "the smart black girl". In high school I was in all honors and AP classes and wouldn't have had it any other way. I had a 100% in math class every year, but did the extra credit assignments for fun to stay in the #1 spot.
Blame my parents though, who when I brought home a 95 asked why I didn't get the extra 5 points. I did my homework during the class it was assigned or even during lunch. I wanted to be the smartest of the smart kids and had no shame in that.
I tried to balance out all of this nerdiness by playing on the basketball team and being cool with the jocks. I decided to go to Penn because I felt I deserved it and what would I have to show for all of my hard work in high school (which actually wasn't so hard) if I didn't go to an Ivy League school. I HAD to go to Penn. I was an overachiever.
What happened to that person? I found myself in college being satisfied with just making it. I remember telling a friend of mine not to stress about her Math 104 grade because "C's get degrees." Now I am not saying I don't still believe that. I hated the fact that my intelligence and hard work was being summed up into this GPA figure (complete opposite of my high school self mind you), but now that I have been removed from school for 4 years I am starting to miss the person who wanted to be the best of the best. I feel like I have become satisfied with the flow of things and am not striving for excellence the way I did when I was 15. I have plans for some major moves this year and need to get myself into the winner mindset. It won't be enough for me to just get by.
I am starting to see this when I am coaching my team. I told (more like yelled at) the girls today that they have to practice like champions. Yes, we are undefeated, but that could easily be taken away if we don't put in the work to stay at the top. Man, I have got to start applying what I say to these kids to my own life! Here's to the overachiever in us all!
C's still get degrees. True. I think when we tend to put so much emphasis on grades, it diminishes the whole reason school was established. To teach us how to think, reason, and use what we learned for the future. Those times at UHS were there to help you practice that excellence. But now as an adult, you have to take those things you learned and put them into some use with your life. Even when things get tough, you gotta get up and try again. It doesn't mean you'll get a "100%" but you can say you did your BEST.
ReplyDeleteKeep striving diddy!