It's funny to me that Liz commented that she doesn't comment much because it takes her so long to research and think about the things that I write. Bookgirl said something similar to me a while back, that when she describes my blog to people, she describes it as being very smart. I told her most people who've read my blog are just totally shocked that I write about orgasms. Honestly guys, thanks, I'm flattered, but it's really weird for me too. I know now that I'm a rather intelligent person, not Mensa or anything, but pretty smart. It took me a long time to realize that, though.
I grew up with a very smart group of kids. I mean Bookgirl's a Mensa member, that's pretty intimidating. Her grades were always way better than mine. And Polly, well, sometimes she uses words I need to go look up. Kind of funny since we met when she started cheating off me during our vocabulary quizzes in junior high. There were many kids who scored in the 14 and 15 hundreds on their SAT's in our classes. I was always an honor roll student, always in the top classes (except for English my senior year of high school). But I was also almost always (except English) at the bottom of the class when it came to grades in those honors classes. Part of it was that I split myself so very thin with all the extra-curriculars that I didn't sleep much and didn't study as much as I should have. Between theater, writing for the newspaper, playing the clarinet, and working part time, my schedule was booked very tight. Part of it was that I was way too horny to care about concentrating on my studies more. Hey, it's not only boys that have that problem. Which one of our friends was it that coined our tortuous state as "cunt throb"? I know it wasn't me. And then there was the drinking and the other less than legal substance, that didn't help.
My mother was always comparing me to another of my friends. My grades were always a few points lower than hers. It was so frustrating. We'd study together for math tests. I would explain problems to her, and then she'd always score a few points higher than me on the tests. I swear, I don't know which of the gods I pissed off, but someone was seriously tormenting me, that's how it felt. I had a teacher who asked the class once if we understood some new concept she was teaching us. When I nodded in agreement she said, "Well, if Diosa gets it, then you all get it." That's kind of the way high school rolled for me.
When I started working at a convenience store and met kids that went to other schools, that was really the first time I saw people not only recognizing my intelligence, but also being rather intimidated by it. I was used to getting teased like I was an air-head. It was quite shocking to me. I had recently taken my SAT's and by my friends' standards done just okay. One of the guys I worked with asked me how I did and I answered honestly. His mouth fell open and he wouldn't tell me his score, he was too embarrassed. It was an entirely new arena for me.
Whereas many kids have trouble adjusting to college, the work load, competing with an entirely new and more diverse group of students, the transition was cake for me. In fact, it was way easier than high school. I no longer had this stereotype of being an idiot following me around. Teachers no longer treated me like I was the dumbest kid in the room. Of course, I only went to a state college. I'm sure it would have been different at a bigger, more prestigious university.
There are still subjects that if you were to quiz me on, I'd sound like a moron. I have trouble keeping politics straight. I usually write about it more for my benefit than anything else. My knowledge of history and world politics is abysmal. Geography is a serious weak point. I must have been in at least fifth grade before I understood the difference between a city, state or country. I can still get lost in a box. And if you haven't noticed, for a former English teacher, my spelling is atrocious when I don't spell check.
I think we all went through this, even Bookgirl. The kids in our class really were exceptional. I went to Bennington and found that I was the most studious, smartest kid in my class, too. I think it would have happened to most of us anywhere with the exception of MIT, Harvard, and Yale. Even then, I'm not so sure about Harvard and Yale. I say that based on our current dictator.
P.S. I had Trouble's problem in school. I just didn't see the point.
Posted by: Polly Poppins | June 28, 2008 at 01:18 PM
We really did have many exceptional students, no doubt about it.
Posted by: Diosa | June 30, 2008 at 09:07 AM