awesome post by ZJ

[JDMcNugent7]

This is a really good quote and I've been thinking alot about it.

The quote rings entirely true for me - I have already fallen victim to it, 4 years ago actually. My ACT scores prove im very bright and that is how I got my scholarship and the way i get by in classes - excelling on tests I barely study for. But the work i do in school, and effort i put into it looks like just another average student, if not below average. Ever since I found out how easy it was to be average and slide by, I've done it. I mean I love my life and I like having fun much more than doing schoolwork. I personally dont even think grades are all that important, but I realize I have completely embraced mediocrity for years now, and I want that to change.

[PShabi]

I've known EXACTLY what I wanted to with my life since before high school and I'm very thankful for that. Helped me focus and persevere when most people would've sunk like the Titanic.

[melioris]

This is exactly what I did in high school and most of college. It really wasn't until my second year of grad school that I got disgusted with myself and the huge opportunities I had wasted by doing the just enough to get by, or to satisfy others expectations of me. It wasn't all roses once I got my shit together, but after a few years of holding myself to my own standards, my research went places that I never would have been able to achieve if I had just skated by or done enough just to satisfy what was expected of me.

I am not trying to be a pretentious asshole, I just feel like I was really fortunate to get a lot of opportunities throughout my life. And I wasted most of them, which I am quite regretful about. I am regretful not because of how things turned out but because I wasted a lot of opportunities that were never offered to other students, and maybe if given the opportunity other students would have capitalized when I didn't.