“You’re so talented.” She hears this sentence quite often. And she believes that. After all, she keeps getting the best grades out of her class. After school, she does so many activities that people wonder how she’s managing all of it. But she loves doing more, she loves achieving, she loves being the best. Her ambition is sky-high. She’s doing great, right? What could possibly go wrong?
Fast forward ten years — she is an average woman, trying to find her way through life, but she is hopelessly lost.
I know that story very well. I know that story because I am that girl. I, and so many other amazing human beings I’ve watched grow next to me. For now, I’ll call us the A* kids.
Achieve, achieve, achieve
I come from a small town in a small country. Somewhere very early on, I received the message about myself that I am smart. Ever since then, I would cling on to that message as babies cling on to their favourite toy. Nobody could take it away from me. I soon discovered two things: (1) I like being praised, and (2) when I do well at something, I am usually praised. You can imagine the rest of the story. My education can be described as a several-year-long chase after being the best. The best at what, you ask? Anything. Give me a subject, I’ll give you a 100% result on a test. Most of the…
