The Ice Queen of My Brain

Playing The Game

I've been told I'm really good at "playing the game". 

What game? You ask. 

Well, I'm not really sure. The game of school, the game of life, something to that effect. The point is, while "playing the game" used to be praised as studiousness, diligence, or forward-thinking, it now, at least in my experience, seems to have gained an association with dry, rule-following closed-mindedness. 

Allow me to elaborate. 

A teacher of mine once told me that I have absolutely no natural talent whatsoever- that my success is solely due to consistent hard work and a somewhat ridiculously engaged and optimistic spirit that's just as ready to learn at 3:00 AM as it is in the middle of the day. I don't necessarily disagree, and no one seemed to really have a problem with that until this year.

This year, when teachers started to value 'creativity' over content in projects, and to scold their 'tryhard' students for being antisocial GPA-hounders whose only goal in life is to graduate from an Ivy League university. Officially designating us as "different" and "other" by labeling us with the vague term "Gifted and Talented" never helped either. 

This is a short entry, but I would like to proclaim on the behalf of myself and Queen Saralee that IT IS OKAY TO BE A HARD WORKER!! 

It doesn't mean you'll end up in a monotonous job that you'll hate. 

It doesn't mean you have no natural talent. 

It doesn't mean you're a scheming, cold-hearted snob who values success over everything else.

It simply means that you are not understood in the public school world of vaping, bathroom graffiti, ditching class, and generally not caring at all. Because yes, even if you go to a relatively prestigious high school like I did, that stuff is always there, lurking beneath the preppy surface. 

I am sorry to tell you that there is nothing we can do to improve our situation now without jeopardizing our relationship with our teachers (which I have definitely done before, no thanks to Queen Saralee and her temper!) But I can remind you that when you go off to college and into the real world, you will suddenly enter an environment that respects you based on the value you bring to the table, not how close you are to some arbitrary standard of normal. People will envy the energy with which you attack a new task, and they will love you for your willingness to jump in and start working.

So hard working students of Wattpad, my best advice to you is, HANG IN THERE!!

~Saralee