I was one of the nerds in high school. I took the AP classes, I passed my AP tests. I enjoyed math, did well at it. Got through multivariable calc and took some coursework on intro to higher-level stuff (IB Further math). My high school was large and absurdly competitive. Very rich area. There were plenty of smart people, a few smarter than me and a few genuine geniuses, but I think I can honestly say I was in the top 5%. I got shitty grades. Like really shitty grades. Entirely due to homework.
So I'm going to a shitty second-tier state school. I know this isn't the best metric, but my ACT is 10 points above the school's average. I didn't think it would bother me. I thought it might even being fun being the smartest person in the room. I miss being IQ mogged. I know there are smart people out there, but I haven't seen them in ages. All people do is tell me I'm a genius, but I know I'm not, because I've met the people who really are geniuses. Now I'm graduating next year. It's too late to transfer, I haven't even considered grad school and it's probably too late at this point. I'm aimed squarely at a middling career in business analytics (i.e. SQL monkey). I don't know if I'll ever see the real geniuses again, and it makes me very sad. Anybody else know this sort of feel?
