Sometimes expectations are cruel

Sometimes, expectations are cruel.

That is ultimately the fundamental lesson here, as sleep is lost, relationships crumble, and ambition fades away to a faint shadow of the potential that once existed within a mind.

Sometimes grades will fall and will not stop. Sometimes notes are taken but never studied. Sometimes sleep grips at us until our essays sound more like drunken babbles than actual writing. Sometimes personal goals are forgotten. And sometimes, there’s no energy left and we slip, and sleep for days.

Sometimes, expectations are cruel. And always, when they are, we do the same thing. We rise up. We crawl out of the rubble of slightly imperfect assignments, we pull out notes taken months ago, and we study until the quadratic formula is branded into our minds. And we’re on top again. This is the price of being an outstanding student. And also, arguably, the most difficult path to take..

Sometimes, pressure is cruel, and you have no choice but to accept that as part of the bargain that is intelligence. And when it is your turn to deal with it, you do.

But what if it’s always your turn?

Surely, some drained, heavy-lidded student can be forgiven for hating herself for always having imperfect grades, just beside the student who works just as hard but can only manage a passing grade no matter how much extra credit is done or how many notes are taken. Surely, the rest of us watching from afar, experiencing anxiety and fright from the comfort of the back of the classroom, far from the teacher’s inquisitive eye, are tempted to believe the same thing.

Bad enough, the student has multiple variations of B’s. Bad enough, both their sister are exceptional athletes, and their games are always attended by both parents. Bad enough, that, although they are only a few times a year, the student’s father has never been to a parent-teacher conference. Bad enough, all that, yet at the end of the day, these are disasters that could be solved by more ambition, a little more effort, a bit more studying, a better image.

Sometimes, though, you have to wonder if the student herself is conspiring against her future.