SMART
What is it? Well, society tells us that being smart means you have good grades, you have a lot of knowledge, you did all your assignments well, etc. And one more, society tells us that being smart means you don’t fail.
You must have that one (or two, or three...) person in your school or in your class that is considered “smart“ by your classmates or teacher. Or maybe you are that smart student. Being smart is not easy. Even though it is a gift, sometimes people set high expectations upon them.
These expectations are toxic, for example:
A is a smart student, she/he always get the first rank in class. As the end of semester approaches, people would be expecting her/him to get the first rank again. There will be 2 scenarios here:
When A get the first rank ( or the hundredth time , I bet people will not show their excitement or their congratulations for her/him. Because this is what they expect already.
But here is what you need to know, fulfilling the expectations over and over, is not easy. So I really encourage you to show your excitement to your friend every time they get an award, even though they always get it. Remember, being a champion is hard, being a defending champion is harder.
The second scenario would be when A doesn’t get the first rank (let’s say A gets the second), people would start questioning, “What is wrong with A? “, “How come A doesn’t get the first rank?”. Or even some people could ask directly to her/him:
“Why didn’t you get the first rank?”
These questions are stupid. No. Nothing happens to A, and yes she/he can be the second rank (which isn’t bad at all). Now by asking A these questions, he/she will start feeling stressed, or feeling fail. A would lose his/her confidence and dedication.
Smart people also have a right to make mistakes, yes, they are also allowed to lose. Smart people also need space to grow, to try something new and fail, without getting any questions, assumptions, or judgements.
