I’m a medicinal chemistry student now going into my final year. I’ve never been good at science. Ever. I’ve loved it since I was a child and I could differentiate the difference between faith in religion and cold logic. When I was younger, I used to pray that angels and God would look after those hurt. These days, I know what I need to do to ensure they don’t die instead of leaving it to chance.
As life progressed I went to a school supposedly for gifted children. It required an entrance exam and it was designed to weed out children of a certain intellect. My exam results were always sporadic in the sense I excelled in English and Maths but never science.
I grew older with my friends that I saw from a young age. For the most part they didn’t get far and dropped out early. It must have been the mega expensive school fees. However, the other half I had to cope with watching my peers flourish. They became so much smarter so much quicker. I was never considered “gifted” at all in comparison to them as they won regional and even national awards for their work, getting offers from better universities and a repetoire of amazing grades. Can you imagine what’s it like? Trying to compete with that and getting nowhere near?
My teacher’s laughed at me when I told them what I wanted to do at university. My English teacher mocked me saying “boys never chance” in her cynical old age. I might not be at a great university now but I’m damn well showing them how wrong they can be. I’m going to get my doctorate and I’m going to prove them all wrong by walking back into school with my qualifications to say “Fuck you. Fuck you and your doubt in me”.