Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” The 1% has always come easily for me but, I had to learn the overwhelming value of the 99%.
The majority of my years in elementary school, I was no less than five steps ahead of my peers. I spent most of my class time reading whatever scholastic novel my adolescent fingers wandered upon because I had already finished the assignment for the day. Therefore, I was absolutely mortified when I received an apprentice score on my “Extended Response” exam. This was the first time that my natural ability wasn’t enough to earn an A. Even at that early age, this grade ended up being a major academic wakeup call. I came to the realization that school wouldn’t always be the breezy cakewalk I had taken comfort in previously.
Until that event, I had easily maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout my academic career. If I had persisted with my laissez faire approach to studying, this most certainly wouldn’t have held true for the future.
The following year, I had the opportunity to compete in the Governor’s Cup written composition event. I won districts and had began to prepare for regional competition when I fractured my wrist. My cast rendered my dominant hand unable to properly hold a pencil, let alone write an entire paper. During this time, I forced myself to learn to write legibly with my other hand. While the competition did make accommodations and provide a scribe, writing the word and speaking the word are completely different. I was able to complete my work and won 1st place at regional competition.
Since then, those skills have paid off exponentially; when additional trials of injury, illness, or simply overextending myself have arisen, I think back to the “99% perspiration” of my genius.
In my Senior year of high school, I have yet to break the promise I made to myself all of those years ago. I continue to challenge myself with Advanced Placement and honor courses, sports, volunteering, and social events. I continue to maintain an unweighted 4.0 GPA and reap the rewards of my hard work and perseverance. Through this experience, I’ve learned to not pace myself against others, but rather against myself. It has become apparent to me over the years that to find the real competition, I must look in the mirror.
