The roles I play - Part 7. The Student

Do not follow my example. Apply yourself in school, even if it's boring. It will help you later in life. I've discovered that most of the things I skipped in school now interests me on a whole new level and I wish I had payed more attention when I didn't have to pay for the books.

Part 7. The Student

School has always been easy for me. Obviously not the people in my class, but the subjects were always easy. It took me a while to learn how to read, but once I cracked it, I read everything I could get my hands on. My favorites were fantasy books. Thick volumes of enchanted lands, magic, strange creatures, and clear defined roles.

I loved learning things and I took every chance I got to sate my curiosity. This often lead to teachers calling me out for being distracted or zoning out. They couldn't know that I was already past what they were talking about and that I was getting bored. Maybe if I had voiced my ideas and what I knew, I could have learned even more, but I didn't.

I think I was nine or ten years old that I discovered that I could manipulate the teachers to get what I wanted. A whole different world opened up to me and suddenly everything became easy. I listened, I learned what the teachers wanted to hear and, as a trained parrot, I said what they wanted me to say.

I was the quiet one. Not the teacher's pet and not on the bad end. I coasted along in the Average group and I was content.

In ninth grade, a few teachers saw potential in me and started to challenge me. And I loved it. The more challenging the task, the more I learned and seemed to excel at it.

The feeling lasted for that school year, and then it was gone again. I slipped back into my old habits of mimicking what the teachers wanted and not really learning anything.

I graduated with B+ as a grade average without barely opening a book.

It was a community college teacher who finally helped me unlock the way I learn things, and I got the euphoric feeling of Gaining Knowledge back. She helped me understand how my mind works, and when I applied this understanding to studying instead of people, information cascaded through my head. And the knowledge stuck.

I stopped manipulating people and started creating with words.

I can see correlations everywhere. The world is a jigsaw puzzle stretching from the beginning of time into the future and I can see the pieces. It takes a little time for me, but I can usually find the link and how the pieces fit together.

I was never a good student. I was a master manipulator who played a role, and I was very good at it.

DFTBA