When I was 13 years of age I had a habit of being a B student. It was not because I did not have the brains for an A. I just did not have enough carrot or enough stick to move my goalpost beyond something merely acceptable. In other words: school bored me and I did not see the point. Why make an effort? (God, what would I do to time travel and re-parent myself...)
One day, my math teacher (Don Paco) managed to get the carrot and stick equation right for me. He scored my test below the actual results and told me that he was taking points off my final score as a penalty for "unreached potential". My face must have turned red, and my ego was on the floor. My childish strategy of "doing the bare minimum" while keeping the adults off my case had failed. Don Paco had dismantled my carefully tested algorithm for life.
This bare confession of proud mediocracy has its point. Don Paco also provided a formula for excellence: "BigSpaces, when you come to class and I explain the exercises, do them on paper while I explain them. When you go home and it is time to do homework, do them again from scratch. When you come back into class to review time, do not just look at my corrections on the board. Do them once again from scratch on paper. I promise you: you will notice the difference in the next test".
I did. The time employed was the same, because I still had to sit in class, I still had to do homework, so I did not use any extra time, but I used the time more wisely. By the time I did the exam, I had gone through each type of exercise multiple times, and I was not surprised to have an A, and a big smile from Don Paco, who had found a way to get my carrot-stick equation just right, and showed me that excellence was its own reward.
I hope this inspires you on your student journey.
So now... protocols. Again. And guards. Again.
git add .
git commit -m "This one is for you, Don Paco. Aiming for A"
BigSpaces
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