“What is it like to be a straight-A student?”

Question: What is it like to be a straight-A student?

Answer: It felt good as a straight-A student at high school, but it’s because I was a straight-A student who had failed multiple exams at the age of 13. In fact, looked down upon those other straight-A students who had always been a straight-A student throughout their school life. I thought life was too easy for them.

Upon my return from Japan to China at the age of 12, the primary school attached to the university where my parents worked reluctantly let me sit in their Grade 6 class for a few months before I moved up to secondary school, and with a condition attached: I would not be allowed to take part in their exams because they didn’t want the performance of a kid with poor Chinese level to affect their overall grade.

The secondary school I attended was the one attached to the university at which my parents worked, so they had to take me. However, in their entrance exam (which I took a few months after my return to China), I scored a grade that would get me in anyway. They only tested on Chinese and Maths, and I managed to catch up a fair bit within those few months.

However, in the very first end-of-term exam at secondary school, I failed in history, biology and politics. The pass mark was 60%, and I scored something like 52–54% in these three subjects. I was actually very pleased - I wasn’t too far from the pass mark!

Three years later, I started at high school with the second highest score at entrance exam in my year.

Several years down the line, I was proud to be one of the few Oxbridge grads who had ever failed in multiple exams in their school career.

A degree or a grade is just a piece of paper. What goes behind it matters.