Memoirs of an Outstanding* Teen

Chapter 12: Your Master Is Hard Work

Maybe it was because I was spending too much time going to and from the netball practices. You know what? If I'm to be brutally honest, I just got a little cocky. I was first on the top ten list all through grade 8, and when I got to grade 9, I thought, "Look at how easily I dominated last year. That will probably be the same for this year," forgetting that the reason I did well in Grade 8 was because I had dedicated every waking minute to my schoolwork.

I should have gotten my wake-up call when we did the mid-trimester achievement tests. I didn't fail any of the tests, but that's pretty much all I can say. I barely managed to get the B's, and the A's were rare and far apart. But I still thought to myself, "I will kill it in the actual exams anyway. My name is practically glued to the top of that list." So, I didn't go back to doing much more than the bare minimum like the older days. In fact, I even started daring to go to school with undone homework and doing it in the five minutes before a class started. And I started listening to Ms Annoyed Face and her friend talk about nonsense in class instead of paying attention to the teacher.

When the exam came, I did study, but I didn't give it my usual 110 percent. It was more like an 85 percent only. And you know how they say if you shoot for the moon, you'll end up on the rooftops? Yeah, it turns out if you shoot for a B, you'll end up with a C or even a D.

The reports were to be handed out a few days after our last exam. I wasn't nervous when my dad went to go fetch mine. "I'll probably just make the top once again." When he got home, and I opened the Top Ten list, I wasn't first. I wasn't second. I wasn't even third. I was fourth in the grade.

It might sound exaggerated to say that this sent shockwaves through my entire body, but if you knew how important the one thing I was good at was to me at that moment, you'd understand. I was shocked, heartbroken, and embarrassed. How could I have let this happen? How could I have dared to be so lazy? How could I have betrayed my commitment to work hard?

To make myself feel better, I did what all people do when they come to some horrid realization about themselves. You know, like when you step on a scale after some months, and you realize, "Oh my God, I've gained 5 kilograms!" Then you decide to immediately go on a diet and workout every single day. I immediately decided I was going to go back to studying every waking minute.

It was already April break, but just after I had calmed myself enough, that morning, I grabbed my books and placed myself behind my desk. I was ready to serve my master: hard work.

I later went to Tanzania during the last two weeks of my April break, and even then, I brought my books along to study there too.