HUMANS 101

They Told Us the Only Thing That Matters Is Being Number One

I know better now

“first place” by EvelynGiggles is marked with CC BY 2.0.

You can listen to the Soundcloud recording of this post here.

I sometimes think of myself as a failed experiment. My parents hoped I’d be valedictorian of everything, but my college GPA was a dismal 3.2, and I’m convinced I only ended up in AP Calculus because of a clerical error. (I have the same last name as someone who really was AP-Calculus-qualified.)

I really only participated in one high school sport, and I only earned my varsity letter after three years on junior varsity because the coach took pity on me.

It’s easy to say now that there’s not much I excelled in and feel okay about it, but back then, it was labeled as — and felt like — dramatic, total failure.

“It’s pointless if you don’t win,” was the message I got, and since I never won at anything, maybe everything felt pointless. (Oh, there were a few wins, I guess: My suggestion for the name of our elementary-school year-end fête was selected — “Ye Jolly Olde Renaissance Faire,” wha?)

Photo by Europeana on Unsplash