The Chronicle of an Overachiever

It all started in the 1st grade. My teacher (Mrs. Gantt) announced to the class the students who made honor roll for the first nine weeks of the school year. At the end of the list, was yours truly. When I heard of the term honor roll, I didn't really understand what it meant. Did it mean I could have more privileges than my lesser intelligent classmates? Did it mean I was special? Did it mean that I was better than those who didn't make the so-called honor roll? At the time, I didn't understand the whole "Honor Roll" complex. Later that night, my mom saw my report card and she saw the notation that said that I had made that sacred scholarly list. Her reaction: Imagine a 30-year-old woman jumping and screaming hysterically as if she had just won the lottery. She was so proud of me. She hugged and kissed me. I was receiving fanfare from school and home because of some A's and B's. To everyone else, it was a big deal, but to me it was just a bunch of letter grades.

I wasn't always the so-called overachiever. In second grade, my grades were very erratic. For the first semester of the school year, I managed to make honor roll, however, in the second semester, I made too many C's. In third grade, I had managed to make my first "D" ever. I have no problem using the same excuse everyone employs when they don't do so well in a class. I have to say that my teacher DID NOT like me. Honestly. My mom can give testimonial evidence of this very fact. However, she wasn't the only reason; I didn't do so well in third grade because I was in a class full of slackers and class clowns. I had to fit in because the class was pretty much boring.

Then came High school. In high school, I felt that in some way I had to up the ante. I always had a goal to make straight A's, but this was something that I could never accomplish in elementary. I knew I had the ability, but the motivation to carry out such a goal wasn't there. Sadly, I never accomplished that goal in high school, although I came close many, many times with all A's and one B. It wasn't until I reach the College years, that I did make straight A's. However, it seems that I have reached another obstacle.

It's called CPT 102, starring the evil, diabolical Dr. Vaquez aka DocV. (Think Doc Ock from Spiderman with no robotic arms, but just as evil as ever) DocV’s mission is to fail college students namely the whole class and me. I had an exam last Friday in which I made a wimpy 64%. I need to make at least 70% percentile to pass the class. My goal is to ace the next exams. Can I do it?

The undesired grade I attained provided two things. First, it humbled me. It made me aware that I need to thoroughly prepare for my classes, that I cannot always rely on my good track record of academic success. I have to put everything in the past and concentrate on the present and future. No matter, how much good I have made in my past academic endeavors, I can still succumb to a 'D' or even worst, and an ‘F’. I think the worst-case scenario is that I could escape the class with a 'D' and still pass the class, but without my pride intact. My GPA will greatly suffer as a result. Secondly, it made me aware that my computer professor is a pain in the gluteus region. He is no help whatsoever. He is just there to issue directions and instruction, with no time for real discussion, lecture and feedback. He has made this class too autonomous, without much human interaction. I don’t like feeling like an underdog esp in the world of computers, but in this case, I will have to be one and deal with it. DocV you are going down. You can't keep a good student down.