On academics
I do not like people to see my resumé, know my GPA, or hear about what grades I get. It embarrasses me, not because my academics and accomplishments are pathetic or because they are so spectacular as to warrant adulation, but rather because I don’t like to talk about those things. In a word, I think it’s unprofessional.
I’m sure this distate for discussion of one’s academic achievements dates to my unhappy days at Uni High. The kids at Uni had a deplorable, disgusting attitude toward academics, treating it like a big pissing contest. They would compare grades when tests were returned. Special praise was heaped on the kids with the best SAT scores. It sickened me. And the worst? As Uni students graduated and walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, their names along with the college they would be attending was announced. Think about that. Here is a school so fixated on grades, the ACT, and Ivy League colleges that they dare not let their students savor the accomplishment of graduation; no, they must trumpet one last academic achievement — the crowning achievement — of their students as they depart from high school. How disgusting.
Consequently, today I strive to avoid any talk of academics that is tainted by even a tinge of boasting. I’m very sensitive to it. I also dislike when others speak of their grades and accomplishments — it just seems like a matter that should be kept private.
This is not to say I’m not confident in my abilities; I am, but not unequivocally so. For the most part, I’m confident in my ability to write papers and take tests and so on. On the other hand, whenever a teacher prefaces handing back an assignment with an explanation of the grading, I without fail begin to worry, to doubt, and to associate my work with all of the faults that the professor mentions. Usually, though, I do fine.
To sum up this self-centered little manifesto, I guess I should say that in some ways, I am a very open person, and in others, I’m quite private. I believe accomplishments should be kept in the latter realm.