There were some saying among the Princeton or U Penn student body that them students were like ducks, floating leisurely above but pedaling furiously underneath to keep from sinking. I bet many of your cousins have to study very hard to keep their good grades, and many of them also take private tutoring like C2… They just don’t show you that.
Grew up being an Asian and almost repeated 7th grade (had to transfer from a private school to a public school to avoid that), and went to CC here in my mid to late 20’s whereas few of my cousins attending ivy or comparable schools, I definite know your pain.
But it’s always not too late to learn how to study efficiently and effectively. One time, I saw my cousin, who was attending Harvard at that time and visiting us, reading about two-third of finishing one of his textbook, and I was surprised that he was pre-read his coming semester’s textbooks. He told me that most of his classmates did that in the summer and winter breaks to keep their grades.
Later, I used his method (plus self-convince that I loved these classes at start of each semester), changed major (from engineering/auto mechanic to business/accounting) that was more suitable to my understanding of subjects, took notes in classes, read end of chapter problems/solution first and skipped majority of the body of textbook unless there was particular issues that i could not figure it out yet. Able to do this, I turned my self from a C/B-student to an A+ student, and got my 90 college credits (I had some from earlier) within three years to finish my college degree while working full time. I also passed my CPA exam at one sitting few months after my graduation.
So don’t worry about what your relatives look at you, just find your comfortable zone in studying habit, and I believe that you will be able to turn around your academic prospective.
I have two relatives that did not do well in college, one did not graduate and the other did - barely. Both are in sales and make a great living. I see that you are interested in buying and selling. My son has a friend whose dad has a business where he buys all of this clearance type stuff and then holds it in a warehouse until the appropriate season and then sells it online. He’s a major re-seller on amazon and makes a killing. He has a second home in Costa Rica where he goes to surf! I also have neighbors who are doctors. Let me say “on-call” is not a fun thing! I hear all sorts of horror stories about being woken up in the middle of the night for stupid reasons and drug-seeking patients. Every profession has it’s downside, so find something that you love to do and don’t worry about what your relatives are doing. Remember most people only show you the side they want you to see. So you have no idea what it really is like to walk in their shoes. It may not be as rosy as they portray.
@sahmkc thats awesome!