<p>Marite -- That's great, though I suspect your son has not found himself in a lot of math situations where doing the best he could didn't also make him one of "the best." :) The whole concept of best is something I've spent years talking to my son about -- I don't believe in it. We always sent him to schools that de-emphasized competition. He once accused us of sending him to "hippie schools." When we talk about how he's done or felt he's done on something, I never ask how other people did. The standard question at the end of a school day was: did you learn anything interesting today? I didn't mean to paint him as someone who's only driven by competition. (He certainly never burned the midnight oil -- still doesn't as far as I know -- and was the type of kid who would point out a teacher's grading mistake that would have been in his favor, because he wanted to feel he earned his grades.) He's driven by the need to master things and always has been.</p>