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Monday, June 22, 2015

Hard Work Trumps Talent

I returned to school after we moved to Tucson, and I'm currently completing my associate of science before I transfer to U of A next fall to study Astronomy and Physics with a minor in Astrobiology.

And no, I’m not super duper smart.
OK maybe just a little.

But I get that a lot. The, “Oh, but you’re just good at math,” from classmates and from people who find out what I’m studying. And you know what? It drives me freaking crazy.

I am not inherently a math genius nor am I the world’s greatest up-and-coming scientist, but I work, and I work hard. When my younger classmates (who knew that going back to school at 26 would make you the oldest in most of your classes?) ask how I pull my grades off I tell them: I. Work. Hard.

I would love to ask the tutoring center on campus to pull up the hours I’ve spent studying in there since Fall 2014.

But the point is, talent and inclination can only get you so far. Just because you picked up on your multiplication tables easily doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to graph quadratic functions without putting a little legwork in.

The same goes for writing. Admittedly, writing really is something that I feel inherently good at, but that doesn’t mean that I get a free pass to ho-hum about and not take my craft seriously. Left unused my words easily become dull and blocky, and plot? What plot?

Your mom wasn’t lying, practice really does make perfect, and if going back to school has taught me anything, it’s that the hard worker will almost always come out ahead.


…which sounds kind of cocky, but whatever.

8 comments:

  1. Hey, nice to see you back.

    Without practice and hard work you get nowhere. In music, in writing, in anything. Keep at it.

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    1. It's definitely nice to be back. :)

      And too true! To be a master (or at least adept) at anything, there needs to be a lot of hours of practice put in.

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  2. Where do you find the time to study that hard? Well done, I'm sure you'll achieve whatever you set out to do.

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    1. I actually wrote about this a little while ago, but I make myself stick to a schedule. Since I telecommute and also freelance on top of school, husband, and kids, a schedule is the only way I keep sane.

      http://www.coffeecopyediting.com/?p=75

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  3. It's true. Talent is good and can help a lot, but hard work is how you get anywhere.

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    1. Exactly. No one rose to the top by being lazy.

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  4. Awesome that you're going back to school at 26. (I never realized we're the same age.)

    I'm thinking of going back for my linguistics degree starting next year.

    As another one of the "smart kids" I can safely say that a lot of it does come down to a lot of hard work. Especially when it comes to writing.

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    1. Me either! I don't know why, but between school and my husband's co-workers and their spouses, finding someone my own age is actually really exciting now.

      Good luck if you do decide to go back. :) It's a big step, but can be so worth it.

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