By Diana Ray Diamond
Ever since I was a freshman in South Shore High School, I had excelled in all of my classes. I was a part of South Shoreís ìScholars Institute Program.î The object of the ìgameî is to work very hard, ìsurpass your goalsî and at the same time, ìcollectî an 88% average or higher. I think ìMonopolyî is easier.
Failure didnít seem to be an option, and I was determined to be ìthe best of the best,î by earning 90% averages in my report cards. I was also honored by the National Arista/Archon Honor Society twice, and if that wasnít enough, I was named as an ìAll-American Scholarî for the year 2001 by the United States Achievement Academy. Hey! You could say that Iím a highly-intellectual girl, maybe a nerd, but a genius?
PleaseÖpleaseÖgenie me not!
My dad reminds me (often enough) that if Iím going to be good at something, I have to use the three Pís: persistence, persistence, and persistence. Full concentration on my homework also helps, too. And thatís what school is all about. Sure, there will be envy from classmates. Itís a price one has to pay for the so-called ìgreatness.î I wish that they could step in my shoes and see the ìwhy.î As a former candidate for President would say, ìItís the economy, stupid!î But then again, this is America and ìopinion varies.î
Ralph W. Emerson had hisÖ ìTo be great is to be misunderstood.î
© 2002 by Diana Ray Diamond. All rights reserved.