I attended another conference yesterday, and because it was in the North (and I HATE the North) I got lost, so I ended up arriving pretty late. And since some evil seat-stealer nabbed my original seat, I ended up being seated with the conference speakers.

Awkward.

This meant I was up front and center, in NERDIMUS PRIME position right under the nose of whoever was on stage, so I basically had to behave and pay attention all day unless I wanted something like this to happen:

Again - AWKWARD.

It wasn’t that big a deal though. I think I already mentioned in a previous post that I’m really nerdy and competitive when it comes to anything resembling school, so the whole “sitting in front making earnest eye contact with the teacher” thing is nothing new to me. As embarrassing as this is to admit, I actually love being teacher’s pet! :D

Sick, right? But it’s true. :)  I wasn’t always like this, though. I was pretty normal in high school and college. I only turned into a teacher’s pet wannabe when I went for my Master’s.

Yeah, I know. Even I want to strangle myself right now, remembering it. But I was a teacher too back then! The course was EDUCATION! I was totally interested in the topics okay? Gimme a break.

Oh and hey, it worked, btw. :)

Woohoo! Score one for the teacher’s pet. :)

Of course this valedictorian business made me completely insufferable for a while. I just HAD to be the teacher’s pet at the top of the class in EVERYTHING from that point on… even these Spanish classes I took just to have something to do while I was visiting my sister in Spain for a few months.

I enrolled in the classes pretty late, so everyone was way ahead of me when I started.

I was totally lost. Plus for some reason the teacher was just completely immune to my teacher’s pet tricks. WTH??? Was it a race thing? Did she not dig Asians?? I had no idea. I was so bummed out I spent a ton on long-distance calls being all “I’m an enraged nerd!!!” to my boy at the time.

INSUFFERABLE, I tell you. 

I eventually caught up, but no, I was never that particular teacher’s pet and I was nowhere near the top of the class. (Hey. My European classmates were like the Harry Potters of learning languages, man. I couldn’t possibly compete). But that was a good thing, because the experience humbled me — as did many other situations I encountered as I went on to work in the real world. 

You can’t always be at the top of the class. Someone will always be better at something — and no amount of manipulation, scheming or sucking up to the teacher (or boss) will change that. And as smart as you think you are, as much as you think you know, there’s always so much more that you still have to learn.

Don’t let it get you down.

I’ve found that failure - and learning my limitations - is just a part of the learning process of life. And it’s usually the part that I remember most… so I just embrace it and use it to try and make myself a better person today than I was yesterday.

While “the best person I can be” might not be the BEST IN THE WORLD, it’s really all I need to strive for, and I’m pretty sure it’s more than good enough. :) 

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!