<p>Discuss! I find modesty EXTREMELY annoying. To me, its like being arrogant, just not explicitly showing it. Why can't people just be upfront about their accomplishments?</p>
<p>There is false modesty and then there is genuine modesty - I think that the people you’re talking about are exuding false modesty, which is that they’re well aware of their accomplishments but do not want to outright say them, because they think that modesty will amplify both their character and their accomplishments simultaneously.</p>
<p>However, I know people who are genuinely modest in that the idea of putting themselves in any position of attention makes them physically uncomfortable. Only about 30 kids out of 500 in our graduating class actually know who our valedictorian is because she’s so quiet and reserved, and she essentially refuses to talk about her grades despite the fact that most can deduce that she has a 4.0 unweighted. </p>
<p>I usually qualify a lot of what I say about myself - I never talk about my accomplishments without adding some qualifier to kind of offset it, like - “Yeah, I got a 100 on that AP Gov test… but boy, you should see how badly I bombed that essay in Lit.” I don’t know, I can see how that’s annoying as well.</p>
<p>^Yes, when people put the “qualifier” after their accomplishments, its unspeakably annoying 
I don’t believe “true” modesty exists.</p>
<p>In what context do you think people should be up-front about their accomplishments? Should people just go around bragging when no one asked? I don’t want to accidentally brag about something no one is going to find impressive, and acting modest is a way to save face. If no one is impressed, I can be like, “Yeah, I know it’s not that great.”
And sometimes I’m proud of the wrong things. For example, I don’t usually talk about my grades because I think it makes me look naive…grade inflation means everyone got an A, so why would I act like getting an A makes me special?</p>
<p>People at my school get ticked off when you brag too much - kids who do exceptionally well tend to be very vague about their achievements. Good friend of mine is ranked number 4 out of 500 and he received a 2370 on his SAT and when asked what his score is, he says, “I did alright, I guess.” and then changes the topic.</p>
<p>Sometimes I put a qualifier because I don’t want to make people feel bad. For ex, I’m really good at math, but a lot of my friends aren’t. So I say things like “I got an 100 on the math test, but I got ANOTHER D on a History quiz.” I know it’s annoying, but I feel bad if I was like “I did amazing”</p>
<p>Not as annoying as immodesty. People act modest because they are afraid of being judged or because they genuinely have enough self-appreciation that they don’t need extrinsic feedback or, maybe, in extreme arrogance -saying that something that is clearly impressive to everybody else isn’t to you. </p>
<p>But I do like being around people who recognize their accomplishments and are proud of them.</p>
<p>Best when there is some sort of balance.</p>
<p>superstarlala - ^^^^^^^^ I’m a history buff and a lot of my friends aren’t, and I tend to do better in AP humanities courses than they do in Honors humanities courses, but conversely, they’re much better at math than I am, like they were banging out A+'s in AP Calculus last year when I was driving the struggle bus with a low B in H. Precal - so if I ever talk about history grades, I make sure to bring up that I am not doing nearly as well in math.</p>
<p>See it’s so annoying. It even happened today. So, everyone was finding out their quiz grades from humanities and the one boy I don’t like comes skipping down the hall saying, “Hey guys, I got 104% on the quiz! What did you get?” I just said,“Want a cookie?” But he didn’t hear me. -<em>- My dad said not to compare to others but urggg people are just so damn annoying. I got a 39/43 but the highest possible was 45/43 due to extra credit. I have a 97.68 in the class which meets my expectations, but geez people sure know how to make that accomplishment go down the drain. I still don’t like him regardless -</em>-</p>
<p>@Preamble</p>
<p>I’m the same way too. I’m a science maniac and everyone in my class knows that. They even think I’m a dictionary since I know such “advanced” vocabulary. Though I still think I’m terrible at math and OK at humanities so I will always say something to oppose that good praise. I feel conceited for some reason if that happens to me… Call me crazy</p>
<p>@ScieneKid99 - When I was in my intro to Law course Sophomore year, I was referred to as “the human dictionary” by my classmates - and my teacher basically scolded them saying “Preamble has so much more to offer than big words” and I blurted out “I just failed my Algebra II quiz.” I was scrambling to offset the praise, because the class was basically arguing about the extent to which they should praise me with the teacher and inside I was like “no, no I cant let this happen, I must broadcast faults.” </p>
<p>:/ so yeah, that was a thing.</p>
<p>I guess people at my school would consider me modest, even though I believe that I’m not any more modest than I am insecure. I really can’t see what people compliment in myself, and just end up denying it. I could see why some people see it as annoying and pretentious…but it’s really not purposeful. I just have low self-esteem.</p>
<p>@preamble - That’s terrible. /: Same, and I always feel really arrogant when I don’t say something to counterbalance the compliment.</p>
<p>@catchinginfinity - The irony is that when other people do it for my compliments, I basically argue with them to make them accept the compliment. I told this girl that I wish I could do as well as she did in Latin since she had consistently gotten the highest grade in the class on tests and quizzes, and I tip my hat to any person who can master Latin in such a sophisticated way - however, once I complimented her, she said “Oh my God, but I’m basically failing AP Stats.”</p>
<p>And I went on to say, “But Latin, though. You kill 'em in Latin.” and she kept trying to offset it - in hindsight, I probably should’ve just backed off.</p>
<p>@Preamble</p>
<p>Lol… Human dictionary, everyone asks me what a word means -<em>-’ like when the teacher says, “Who can define this word for me?” And everyone looks at me with the occasional, "a-HEM</em>___<em>(My name). But it’s crazy because no matter how much I try to tell someone that I’m not what they think I am, I always find a way to contradict myself, thus proving them right… Jeez, i am happy that they think so at least 
My high school is way too competitive which annoys me -</em>-</p>
<p>@ScienceKid99 - Do you ever not actually not know what the word means because that happens to me in class - in AP US Politics and Government, the teacher asks - “Who knows who the current Senate Majority Whip is?” and people turn to me because they assume I have every Congressman and Executive bureaucrat memorized by heart.</p>
<p>One guy in the back actually outright says - “Yo, I’ll throw down five dollars right now that Preamble knows.” </p>
<p>(and a lot of the time, I don’t know.)</p>
<p>what’s also annoying is when someone asks you your grade and you tell them and it’s better than what they got so they get all jealous and & bratty. like that shouldn’t count as bragging if they asked you! they shouldn’t ask you questions they don’t want the answer to! also sometimes it’s really hard not to brag when you do well on something! like how do you get an A on a test and just keep quiet the rest of the day without getting all giddy and telling everyone around you? </p>
<p>soo complicated</p>
<p>@bingington</p>
<p>Person who got a 2 on their AP World exam: “Hey Preamble, what did you get on the AP World exam?”
Me: “A 5.”
Person: “Well exxxcuuuuuuusssse me. Hmph.”</p>
<p>I feel you.</p>
<p>@Preamble</p>
<p>Funny thing is, is that my brain is wayyyyy too complex therefore all of my answers take too long process. I will know what the word means but I just won’t accept such a simple definition, so my brain works to find a definition that satisfies me. Yeah, call me crazy- I know. And yes, there’re times when I just straight out dont know so I just shut up…, LOL</p>
<p>Today we did section 1 (Critical Reading) of the 2013 practice PSAT in Lit. Me being the no-speeky-good-Engliss Asian child I am, I missed 5 questions right off the bat. A girl in my class only missed 3 in that section, and when we talked about it in study hall (except it’s not exactly study hall), she was all like “I did better than [my name]!” </p>
<p>I just said “Well I’m not that smart” because tbh I think it’s not that big of a deal when people get higher grades than me since I make mistakes all the time, and the so-called “dumb” people don’t ever notice it. I’m human too, and mistakes make humans. </p>
<p>On the bright side tho, I got a 74 on the math section :)</p>