My mom does not know what scholarships are. She believes that people just apply, and they give you money. Not so. They want kids with high GPAs, great essays, president of ten clubs,etc, not bob off the street. Of course, I understand it's very hard to tell if your kid is average, and in the past, a 3.2 would be a good GPA. I'm not saying I don't do any work, but unlike the prevailing myths say, there's a kind of mathematical bent going here. Only a few people can be outstanding, that's the whole point. It's like how if more people get As, then getting all As is outstanding, but if everyone gets Ds, then getting a C is outstanding. I dislike competition, because of the heavy math involved.

Only one person can win most competitions, and the whole point of competition is that people lose, so there can be a winner. There's never a win win competition. I am pretty aware that the odds are against me, and very aware of my real position, which is much harder to do when you're not the person. We all try to make ourselves look better, but only we know the tally of all our mistakes.