Please excuse the rambling…
Over the past few days I’ve done a lot of thinking and I’m getting a bid worried that either a) I’m not being honest with everyone, or b) nobody really knows me, so I need some doper guidance please.
On Tuesday I got my degree results; I got a third for my degree in maths and statistics with physics. For those who don’t know (or possibly those who’s degree system is different from the UK) a degrees go First, Upper second, lower second, third, pass, fail.
I was relatively happy with my result to be honest, but it was everyone else’s reaction to them that got me thinking; they were so dissappointed that I got a third it was unreal. I phoned my mum first and she said ‘Oh well, you tried your best, never mind.’, my best mate said ‘Ah well mate, you did better than me.’ Everyone else seemed as though I did really badly and i’m so clever I should’ve got a first, but I’m happy(ish) with a third.
What’s wrong with me? Do I give off an aura of intelligence that people expect too much of me or did I just underachieve?
I don’t think anything is wrong with you or them. There’s this commitment to excellence and perfection in everything we do attitude out there that lends itself to disappointment if you didn’t get every answer right, or have straight A’s.
If you were happy with the results, why let them bring you down?
I think I know what you’re dealing with. There are people who think I’m some kind of mega-brain. There are some things at which I excel, and others where I barely get by. I used to feel like such a fraud, but in the grand scheme of things, my grades didn’t really matter. I passed. I got a job. No one I know professionally ever discusses what their averages were in school.
Um, so to address your question - no you’re not living a lie. Unless you deliberately set out to give a certain impression to others, you can’e be faulted for their perceptions or ideas about you. And in a matter of months, no one will remember or care. As long as you feel like you did your best, it truly doesn’t matter what others think.
I get this sometimes too. I get straight A’s in everything except Algebra, where I usually get high C’s to middle B’s. Everyone always says the same type of thing to me when they see my report card.
I don’t mind much; I did my best, and I know my limitations. As long as it doesn’t bother you, it shouldn’t bother other people.
What I think when I get responses like this the same as one of FairyChatMom’s points: will anyone will remember what I got in this class in a couple months, in a year, maybe even in a week? Nope!
I guess some people just can’t understand that a “C” in “higher mathematics” and other difficult subjects is a tad different (read: A much greater achievement!) than an “A” in “sewing for beginners”.
Something similar happened to me: I got a “B” in “patenting” and a “D+” in electrodynamics. I was overjoyed about the latter and rather miffed about the former and nobody could understand why, because they only looked at the grade and not at the subject.
I can kind of relate to your sentiment, Optihut. I had a Biotechnology class in High School that I worked my ass of on, spending nearly all of my lunch hours being tutored by the teacher and investing more time in that class alone than every other class in High School combined, and for all my efforts and determination, I got a ‘C’ in the class. However, I was extremely proud of myself for making such an accomplishment. And when I took Human Heredity in community college, it was a snap, and I got an ‘A’ in that class without even realizing I had done anything.