I partially blame this 70s book for it all!
“Living up to your potential” was a
catchphrase I heard often as a student in grammar school. Usually
the more younger teachers were the ones to utter that. The teachers
who were over forty at the time couldn't give a damn if you did or
not, as long as you made a C- in their class. But they were from the
WW2 generation and “making the cut” was all that was required in
the Army and all that was needed in life.
“Making the cut” was and is
military phrase. The command would need say, twenty people for a
particular task, they'd get the aptitude tests out, count down twenty
of the top performers, lay a ruler down on the paper and tear the
paper at the twentieth person.
I suppose there are theories in
education that have their day, like fashion, and then drift away,
like the old Rinehart penmanship system.
Did I live up to my potential in
school? Hell no. It was too much effort for too little gain. I had no
problem in school as I liked it and received better than usual
grades. I could ace tests if I wanted too, but
that required spending more time studying vs. watching and dreaming
about Kristy McNichol on TV. I had various teachers try to motivate
me to to EXCELL each time. At times I'd do it just to placate them,
but I took no great sense of success or profit from it. Like most
kids, I enjoyed any verbal praise from a teacher or adult, but it was
just that, verbal. It wasn't long lasting nor at times sincere. So
I gave the teacher a few A's and shut them up, then back to a more
pleasant pace of walking than Olympic style marathons where the “gold
medal” wasn't really such a great gain.
I once said before I was a B+/A-
student while my brother was one of those who was A+ most of the
time. The motivation? Dad. He wanted to please him. He managed to
keep those grades till he attended Providence College and discovered
off-campus parties and the such. Even with that, his grades suffered
just enough to lose the summa cum laude to the demotion to magnum cum
laude upon graduation.
From what I saw, those “living up to
their potential” all had a air of desperation to them. There were
a very few who had excellent grades and that
nonchalance. Those people were naturally gifted Einsteins anyway and
didn't expend much to achieve success as it was easy for them. You've
seen that nonchalant look. Imagine a trust fund 20-something in
Newport, living the easy life with that air of “It doesn't matter
what I do, Dad's money will always be there anyway.” The others,
who weren't born with rich, wealthy brains, but a chance to succeed,
had to slog it out and became haggard looking for doing so. They had
to work at it.
I would occasionally see them fret when
they received “just an A” on a test. I think I could see them
replaying the chewing out from their parents they'd get for failing
to achieve perfection of A+.
Some of those kids I knew then I hear
about today. What did their nose grinding efforts get them? It got
them to comfortable middle class and that's it. Oddly enough most of
them work in the civilian sector of defense. A few I've spoken with
are sick of the constant budget pressures or deadline demands. I
swear I can almost hear them think at times, “Hey, I was a
National Honor Student, I should've had an easier time at life!”
Nope my friend, you're going to be squeezed like the productive
sponge that you are to your employer at General Dynamics.
I on the other hand took a different
track. I chose social services and ended up in comfortable middle
class as well. In either case, maintaining 100% or just 80% of your
potential still won't get you remembered for eternity. There will be
no parades for your efforts on Main St when your long since gone.
Of course, this clip helps too,click away!
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