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Comment by jwuphysics | Hacker News Reader

I wish that people had told me earlier that it's possible to be both smart and not awkward. Circa sixth grade, I gave up my academic life for my social life. Now I'm in CMU desperately trying to get above 50th percentile.

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CMU? 50th percentile? Congratulations on finding a community of people who are amazing enough to make you look normal :)

I'm making strides but it's still a far cry from high school, where I was easily one of the smartest kids without ever trying. Coming to CMU definitely humbled me quite a bit!

But that aside, I'm still not content with being normal. When I sold out my intelligence, it meant years of hard work on socializing and stuff (seriously. It's hard work). Now that I'm stepping back into academics, I'm aiming for the top again. But it's so much harder the second time around :(

It's actually the first time if you never had to try before. I think this is an issue that lots of people having an easy time in HS have, we actually need to learn how to study once things get more complex.

I actually don't think I was ever "naturally intelligent". My current grades prove that. But the reason I could cruise through high school was because my parents drilled me with algebra, vocabulary quizzes, geography, and Montessori school when I was 4-9 years old. That undeniably put me ahead for the next ten or so years.

I faced the same choice circa eight grade. Gave up my academic life for my social life. Miraculously made it into Amherst, then nearly flunked out of Amherst twice. Made the opposite choice when I was 23, giving up my social life for my academic/professional life. Worked great, wrote some popular computing stuff, got into Google, worked on high-profile & high impact projects. I was miserable.

I'm still trying to figure out a balance between them.

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