So I basically take all honors and AP courses this year (honors physics, precalc, ap lang, apush, ap macro, ap psych) (aside for my world lanaguage). All of my high school so far, I’ve been getting fairly decent grades.
However in the back of my mind I keep insisting that these good grades are just a product of luck and not the hours of studying and practice I’ve put in. I’m convinced I am not as smart as what everybody thinks and I’m afraid one day this will catch up to me. I think it’s because I’m surrounded by people who don’t have to work as much to understand something. Honors chemistry, for example, was a struggle for me last year and I had to get a tutor and everything but I still ended with a high grade. There was this kid who was just naturally really good at chem, never tried, barely did his homework but tested well and ended with a even higher grade. Rip.
This might be a very illogical fear but it’s just been lingering on my mind lately. Especially because it’s my junior year and I’m just very stressed and doubting everything I do. Does anybody else feel this way? Eek.
IMHO, it is my belief that at some point, those classmates who don’t have to study or work very hard will run into the class or classes in their future where they will need to study. The problem will be that they won’t know how. You obviously already have good time management skills, good study skills and know how to prepare for your classes and exams. You will be the on better off in the long run. Enjoy.
You can spend your life comparing yourself to others, it will make you crazy. There will always be people smarter and people dumber than you. What does it matter, really. Just do your best. Do you.
In HS, College, at work and in life there is always someone smarter than you.
The only thing you can control is how hard you work…so keep up that work!
Some of my closest friends in high school went on to:
Get a BS from MIT and then a PhD in astrophysics from UT Austin
Get a PhD in German
Become the youngest Rhodes Scholar in history (at that time)
Study under Stephen Hawkings for her PhD and specialize in string theory (I turned on Nova one night and there she was, being interviewed!)
So how do you think I felt, ha? But I talked to an astronomy professor at UT and he said he would prefer to have a student like me, who worked hard and wasn’t brilliant, than a brilliant student who didn’t work as hard.
After working hard and making all As in high school, my first college exam grade was a 45! There was a curve, but not THAT much of one. So I got a tutor and ended up with a C. It was a hard start, but I buckled down and graduated with high honors. So keep plugging. Ask for help when you need it. And have fun when you get to college.
