What You Get for Going to a Smart School

People always said to me "Oh when you hit college you will not be the smartest, top student and you will feel shocked when everybody around you is just as smart."  That statement is pretty simplified, so maybe in this post I'll explore the aspects of that.

First to say, yes I was smart in my high school.  Just because I was smart doesn't mean I was the top.  People did clubs, activities, joined organizations, branched out.  I never did many of those that I put my heart into.  And just because I was smart didn't mean I was on top grade wise either.  My goal was that 4.0; people got better grades on test and quizzes.  It didn't shock me that I wasn't the top.  So in this instance, I never understood when people told me the statement that I will be shocked.

At UVA there are a lot of brilliant people.  I'm more shocked at their extracurricular than their stellar performance in the classroom.  They come in with knowledge that I feel is more important than stuff memorized in the classroom.  In that aspect of the statement I can agree.

In the 2016 class I'm not the smartest kid.  But that isn't a shock, actually it is pretty refreshing.  There is no stigma, no need to maintain a lofty air.  I can do what I wanted to do and chill in the shadow as others go crazy and compete.  As long as I get my 4.0 I'll be happy.

There is one thing with knowledge that does shock me.  In high school I was in all the advanced classes, so I had a broad knowledge base.  In the library I could hear people talking about a subject and most of the times I knew what they were talking about.  In college that isn't true at all.  I can walk by a whiteboard filled with information and not know what the heck it is saying.  I can hear a conversation about some obscure anthropological subject and not know what is being talked about.  It is strange not having that broad knowledge and being sectioned into a few subjects in preparation for a major.

So in some aspects I am shocked, some I'm not.  I'll say that very simplified statement sort of encapsulates how people will feel in college.