Why do top students refuse to be acknowledged?

[brightsky]

Definitely don't want continuous praise from peers. :buck2:

+1

[monokekie]

Anyway, there are also times where (now referring to specific people at my school) there are also people who don't put their hands up or contribute to class discussions when a teacher is asking questions even when they know the answers. These people are missing opportunities where they could be praised for their academic endevours/efforts.

mm, purhaps they don't see answering questions as an opportunity to be praised... coz if the question is super easy and you raise your hand, you are risking being deemed as a "show-off", and if you answer it wrongly, you will probably gonna be "a dumbass" + sometimes ppl do get lazy (you need to raise your hands and if your teacher don't see you - your face is likely to turn red) and sometimes the subject just doesn't interest you...

and i think people do contribute to class discussions for various reasons, for example, i will occasionally raise my hands in class(only chem/methods) to answer(when a teacher is looking dissapointed + dead class atmosphere) and ask necessary questions provided that i feel HYPER on that day.....mind you, teachers are human beings and none of them wants to talk like a robot in class without any response from students- they want to share their knowledge with students, and i think as a part of the class, we do have the responsibilility to respond to their questions to grant them with a sense of achievement.,,(but since its a shared responsibility, none of us are really obliged to do so..lol)

[brightsky]

Lols, definitely agree. Especially with your first paragraph. I know A LOT of people like that.

[*ryan777*]

Anyway, there are also times where (now referring to specific people at my school) there are also people who don't put their hands up or contribute to class discussions when a teacher is asking questions even when they know the answers. These people are missing opportunities where they could be praised for their academic endevours/efforts.

mm, purhaps they don't see answering questions as an opportunity to be praised... coz if the question is super easy and you raise your hand, you are risking being deemed as a "show-off", and if you answer it wrongly, you will probably gonna be "a dumbass" + sometimes ppl do get lazy (you need to raise your hands and if your teacher don't see you - your face is likely to turn red) and sometimes the subject just doesn't interest you...

and i think people do contribute to class discussions for various reasons, for example, i will occasionally raise my hands in class(only chem/methods) to answer(when a teacher is looking dissapointed + dead class atmosphere) and ask necessary questions provided that i feel HYPER on that day.....mind you, teachers are human beings and none of them wants to talk like a robot in class without any response from students- they want to share their knowledge with students, and i think as a part of the class, we do have the responsibilility to respond to their questions to grant them with a sense of achievement.,,(but since its a shared responsibility, none of us are really obliged to do so..lol)

true, that 1st paragraph takes me straight back to most of my classes lol

and ive seen way too many dissapointed teachers during my school life

[QuantumJG]

Anyway, there are also times where (now referring to specific people at my school) there are also people who don't put their hands up or contribute to class discussions when a teacher is asking questions even when they know the answers. These people are missing opportunities where they could be praised for their academic endevours/efforts.

mm, purhaps they don't see answering questions as an opportunity to be praised... coz if the question is super easy and you raise your hand, you are risking being deemed as a "show-off", and if you answer it wrongly, you will probably gonna be "a dumbass" + sometimes ppl do get lazy (you need to raise your hands and if your teacher don't see you - your face is likely to turn red) and sometimes the subject just doesn't interest you...

and i think people do contribute to class discussions for various reasons, for example, i will occasionally raise my hands in class(only chem/methods) to answer(when a teacher is looking dissapointed + dead class atmosphere) and ask necessary questions provided that i feel HYPER on that day.....mind you, teachers are human beings and none of them wants to talk like a robot in class without any response from students- they want to share their knowledge with students, and i think as a part of the class, we do have the responsibilility to respond to their questions to grant them with a sense of achievement.,,(but since its a shared responsibility, none of us are really obliged to do so..lol)

There is nothing worse than dead class atmosphere. In physics we had this where at the start of the year I answered questions and then the class just becomes cbf. So it would be like solve this... 2 minutes would pass... No answer and I just hated having no competition.

As for not wanting achievements displayed I might be able to understand this. It might be to avoid competitive friends seeing it. I personally always wanted validation from others since how I went academically was the one thing I got kudos for and loved the feeling of it (ok I found it hard to make friends, probably why I wanted some form of validation).

I reckon that if someone does well they may aswell celebrate it since it may never happen again (purely pessimistic view), you could end up regretting not celebrating an achievement.

[*ryan777*]

thats true, the vast majority of people want validation for their efforts but i think they also dont want people to drag it out for too long, if ones academic acheivements are "shown off" a lot it places pressure on those to acheive at the same level or above again and again which just becomes too stressfull for most

[teebagger*]

^ Yep, that.

Yeah, different things. Some people are just introverted/shy, others don't want to sound like a Hermione Granger. Or worse, they don't want to act like a Hermione Granger and then be told that whatever they've just said is wrong or stupid. I notice waaay too many people in my classes who constantly speak up and they almost always say something stupid while throwing in some large multi-syllable words to try and sound intelligent. It's like, stop it. Just stop it, now.

[ninwa]

Modesty? The smartest (and humblest) people I know never brag about or even mention their grades, even when they get near perfect or perfect scores *cough you know who you are*
Interestingly, the people I know who do brag all the time are still intelligent but nowhere near the top. Perhaps the need for validation plays some part in it?

I tried to prevent my scores being published in the paper (in the event that they were 40+) because I didn't want people to know them, simple. (Stupid school mucked it up though, they ticked the box for me, wtf?)

Re: answering questions, even when I know the answer I don't speak up because there's always a chance I'll be wrong and then I'll look stupid lol. Also I'm a naturally shy person.

I don't think there's anything wrong with enjoying peer praise though, as long as you're not obnoxious about it (e.g. A knows B got a lower mark but still goes on about how 'shit' it was so that B would say omg no you're so smart etc.)

[periwinkle]

 

  Intelligence can attract attrition (especially so for a girl)

   http://vcenotes.com/forum/index.php/topic,11265.0.html

[Ilovemathsmeth]

LOL I didn't want mine published either this year, as apparently random people from my old school tracked my name in the paper in 2008 which seriously pissed me off. However, it's "recommended" at my school, and I think there was some rumour that if you didn't sign, you missed out on receiving any awards if you received a magical 50. Hence most of us signed. I think that's what it was, can't remember, the trauma is wiped from my mind...

[*ryan777*]

^ i hate it when schools try to pressure you to do things that is clearly only for their benefit

[kyzoo]

I can relate perfectly to all of this.

If someone asks me what score I got for something, unless it's a horrible score, I will always give them a value lower than the actual one. E.g. if I get 97%, and someone asks, I will reply 80% or probably even lower. Actually, I give absurd figures like 1/80 which everyone knows is bullshit, but it sends the message that I don't want to reveal my true score. My tendencies lead me to conceal my score; I don't really have an explanation for this, it's just way way I am.

I have this philosophy where I don't compare myself to anyone. I try to keep myself in the dark of others' scores (failed to do this for Methods scores of my class though), and instead compare myself to my own standards. I won't be elated if I get 80% whereas everyone else gets 50%. I don't try to compete and do better than everyone in the class, what I do is try to achieve my self-imposed standards.

As for not contributing to discussions when a teacher is asking questions I know, I never answer questions in Maths unless no-one else can come up with the answer. For English I will contribute as much as I can, same in Chinese. As for sciences, it depends on my mood, normally I'll do what I do in Maths, but sometimes I will jump in.

Not everyone has the assertiveness to participate in a class discussion.

[monokekie]

If someone asks me what score I got for something, unless it's a horrible score, I will always give them a value lower than the actual one. E.g. if I get 97%, and someone asks, I will reply 80% or probably even lower. Actually, I give absurd figures like 1/80 which everyone knows is bullshit, but it sends the message that I don't want to reveal my true score. My tendencies lead me to conceal my score; I don't really have an explanation for this, it's just way way I am.

lol sounds a bit like me. when people ask me what i get for something i'd just smile unless its my parents/close friend. sometimes if they ask persistently i will reply with some average figure lower than my actual mark.

we all face pressures during year 12, and the expectations from people is a major one. my parents wants me to do well ( they never told me so but i just know that- i know them), and the pressure is enormous especially when they pretend otherwise, eg:saying "aiyah~ who cares if we care about you so much we would've sent you to a private school.etc.etc" (but i secretly heard their convo that they are regretting about sending me to a public school, meh~it srsly doesn't matter >.>). and their joy after seeing me getting a good SAC back was just making me nervous, seriously, the anxiety of facing the upcoming exams arouses - what if i didn't do well? - i just had them putting their hopes up..

so, to minimise my pressure, i choose to remain "unsmart" "dumb" to classmates, so that things such as "hey ur gonna get a 50, hey ur gonna get a 99" etc won't pop out of their mouth - what if i didn't get a 50, what if i didn't get a 99? .. this unnecessary expectation will ultimately cause some sort of disappointment nomatter how significant it may be..

[kyzoo]

Another thing - from my experience top students already attain acknowledgment even if they don't "inform others" of their accomplishments. They don't have a need to be acknowledged because they are already abundant in that area, thus they "refuse to be acknowledged."

monokekie: My parents and some of classmates put pressure on me even though I "choose to remain dumb" to them. Whenever my mum asks "how did you go on a test?" I will typically reply "I didn't understand any of it," but it doesn't change her expectations at all. Lol I already had someone openly express that "you were disappointing."

In any case, I'm not really concerned about disappointment, the prospect doesn't frighten me and I'm fully equipped to deal with it if I have to. I continually told myself when I was trying to justify putting in effort for Methods that "I won't be afraid of failure." I think the reason I conceal my test scores may be that I'm more concerned with determining how to improve in the future rather than the score I attained, and concealing my score helps to divert the emphasis away from the score.

[Akirus]

Some top students do not necessarily require validation from their peers because they're just confident in themselves. Doing well enough that others might call it a great accomplishment is something they are sure they can do; they believe in their own capabilities. It's kinda like... "I don't need you to tell me I can do it."

I think you guys look at pressure the wrong way. There is no sense in "stressing out". Nobody is asking you to explode an asteroid about to collide with the earth tele-kinetically. Whatever expectations they have, it's certainly feasible and far from impossible. Wearing yourself thin over it will only hurt you. Have some faith in what you can do.

Pressure is not something you should be fazed by. When I was in grade 6, I turned down a scholarship I earned and opted to go to a public school instead. At the time, I said to my parents, "it doesn't matter, I can manage regardless"; consequently, they not only expect I me to do well, but they pretty much consider it a given, my problem and not theirs. Many of the people in my school, acquaintances, friends, teachers, expect a lot as well. A lot of my friends, in discussions about year 12, predict my English study score to be 50 if not very close. My accounting teacher often hints expectations of the same. My English teacher said she wants to see my name in the paper next year (even though I pretty much sat through her classes and did my own thing for the entire year, which was usually sleeping or something highly unproductive). Often I hear that I'm expected to score within the top few at my school (which, to be fair, is not that big of a deal in a public school). My best friend expects me to get dux. I've made a promise to get at least 99, which I intend to keep. Another very close friend and the top student at my school in the '09 year that has been helping me out with preparation expects the 99.95. To do this, I cannot slip once, in a single one of my 10~ exams. The course I want to do requires a clearly-in of over 99. I also have 3 siblings, and I can tell that they'd be amused if I messed up. I have 6 subjects including enhancement accounting, and no 3/4 subjects in year 10 or 11 to back me up (combination of bad reports, my own negligence and the sub-par nature of my school). To top it off, I don't plan on putting any course on my preference list below 95. You're much more likely to survive if you're not afraid of crashing into the side of a mountain. I know this sounds like a whole lot of bravado (and I wouldn't normally say all of this to anyone; I never have), but I think it's necessary to make my point. Erase the doubt from your mind. If you don't have the mental fibre to do so, build it. I cannot explain to you how it feels and the difference it makes to believe in yourself with absolution any better than this.

Oh, and I'm not a top student (if anything, just incredibly arrogant and conceited), nor do I make that claim. But what does that matter? Tomorrow is not decided by what you are and do yesterday, but what you do now and later. I'm not going to sit here in the middle of the night and argue with people over the internet as to how talented and accomplished I am. We'll see once the year is done.