These ring true for me. I had both of these experiences you describe, and I feel like my life approach is a mix of them. I went to a Montessori school for preschool and kindergarten, then regular public school after that, and was in fact my high school valedictorian.

The Montessori "curiosity-driven" approach definitely stuck with me. I'm always interested in reading and learning about how anything works, and to get my hands on some introductory way of doing it myself. But I don't have the drive to turn that into any bigger successes. I skated through public school and never really learned to work hard, and I'm now that "average" valedictorian as you describe - pretty good 9-to-5 software job, but I'm not going to be achieving anything bigger.

I find my greatest satisfaction in small self-contained challenges. Things like competitive board games, Rubik's-cube type puzzles, juggling. Where I can hold the entire activity in my head. But then I lose interest when it reaches a level of complexity that requires a more disciplined and organized approach. I ascribe these tendencies to having the Montessori education early to be curious and hands-on about everything, but then the public school education which just teaches to the next test and doesn't train for anything bigger.