All the teachers say the same thing about me since P4. That's when I learnt that even though teachers make homework seem like a big deal, it isn't.
I've got a brilliant mind, but I'm lazy. This leads to some very interesting issues in Primary school, like when I didn't do a comprehension exercise. I annotated it and completed the 10 question worksheet just as she reached Question 8. Damn, she got pissed, but since I handed in on time, she couldn't say/do a thing.
My primary school maths teacher disliked me intensely for doing that to her. In the first week of school, she gave us a booklet of 100 challenging sums, saying that it'll take the whole year to finish it. I admit, it was challenging - for normal people my age. But I'm not normal, and that's why I finished the maths workbooks, booklets and etc by the end of January.
When we moved up to primary 6 together (It was the norm to move everything from P5 to P6, only changing classrooms and timetables so that the teachers won't waste time getting to know us), I made a small fortune, considering any food in our canteen above a dollar was a ripoff. I sold answers and methods for 10 cents each. Just the PSLE preparations maths workbook was enough to make me a ton, right to the point where they realized they could get all the answers and workings at a much better rate by buying the exact same book from Popular.
And then I moved into secondary school, where all the fun is.
Chinese, which was naturally my worst subject, got thrown to the bottom of my priorities. Maths and science shot to the top of Homework, which still is near the bottom.
So, in the first few days, some teachers think I suck. That's when I teach them that you can suck at exams, and be awesome at general knowledge, while other people can be the opposite.
For example, I showed that I knew a ton about organelles, tissues and structures in a heart in Science. I showed that I knew the general formula for quadratic equations for Maths. I explained why elements don't have nice round numbers for their atomic masses in real life. I have impressed every teacher enough that they won't say anything too bad during PTMs, but not enough for them to convince that they can change me for the better.
Right now, it seems like they've given up after I failed to do any Chinese work for a year, and still passed.
And the best thing is, I'm a teacher's nightmare. I'm the unpopular one, so I actually hold the most power over the rowdy class. I'm the general girl to go to if you have problems with homework, and it has nothing to do with languages. Humanities, I can handle because it involves common sense, a small amount of facts, and a whole truck filled with bullshit. I'm the one who can be trusted usually to not pass up homework, so I'm expected to score badly in exams.
What happens is that I score pretty well, averaging somewhere in the high-70s and low-80s for most subjects, Chinese being the only exception. I'm good at English and Lit mainly because I use English A LOT, and Lit is just applying a good coating of common sense, and an overdose of over-thinking and over-analyzing of the text/book/poem. Nothing more.
And that's what teachers hate the most. I grasp logical concepts easily, and I score amazingly well, considering my usual apathy on exams/projects. Exams, mainly because I remember, then doodle the concept onto my book. When I read through my textbooks 20 minutes before the test, I can remember all the concepts in my brain long enough for the exam. Afterwards, it fades away...
As for projects, Google and Wikipedia are my friends. Followed by my good friends, Imagination and Bullshit. Notice a trend about my reliance on a certain item? Add in my ability to pull off fake depth and maturity that makes me seem wiser than my peers, and most teachers after a year would learn the power of apathy. It doesn't matter that I've got into Mensa, with a pretty steady IQ of 140-145. Nor the fact that I can best almost anybody in basically talking about random shit. It doesn't help that I've thought of ways to improve the MRT rush-hour jam, or innovative ways to score for philosophy exams while the teacher explained isotopes.
And thus, one of the things that irks me the most is that most people make all sorts of assumptions about me. I will not do anything that doesn't interest me, explaining my hatred of all homework related to Chinese. It's not that I can't do it. I scored full marks on a Chinese compo before, mind you, but it's just because I don't find it worth my time, which I could spend on something higher up my list.
Often, teachers who know about my Mensa entry remark that they don't understand why smart people like me score poorly. Have they heard of the phrase: "Book Dumb"? Throw me an exam, and I'll give you hell while marking it. Throw me a question in my field of interest, and I'll show you passion/obsession. I can name a few interesting factoids about anything you can hit with a dart on a world map, excluding the logo, and manufacturer of the map.
Heck, I pretty much taught myself the periodic table, Punnett Squares, and Greek Mythology the moment my mom realized that I could read, and wouldn't tear apart her books.
Most of the people in tuition don't believe it when Kelly notes that I've never scored above 90 for any science exam. Somehow, my awesome grasp of science, the fact that I can happily banter with Kelly while doing my work and my insane breadth of random tidbits should let me score at least a 99.5/100 for every exam I take.
In reality, I often argued with teachers to award me marks for my... unconventional methods to math questions in Section C. The fact that I used algebra in most questions, and preferred to take the path less chosen meant that in the prelims, where the teachers weren't meant to know who the person was, I could still be identified, because my answers almost always ended up correct, but with different methods. The fact that my handwriting was both cursive, and barely readable was just the confirmation they needed.
Also, my friends credit me for a "discovery" I made about the human brain. Nothing to do with a hitherto unknown section of the brain buried between the hypothalamus and amygdala. Given not enough time, you'll either churn out high-quality work, or utter bullcrap because at that point, your brain doesn't think too much, and since great ideas look almost like crappy ideas, you'll either get great, or crappy ideas. I get great usually.
And how did I make this discovery? I churned out a History assignment in 3 hours in the school library, then printed it, handed it in, and got 3rd in class for the assignment.
In the end, the teachers developed a why-the-fuck-should-I-care attitude to my homework issues. That's wrong, people. Convince me that this is way better than FB, forums, anime and basically whatever on howstuffworks.com, tvtropes.com, instructables.com and I'll do it. It's just that I'm too lazy to destroy the preconceived notions.
Let me show you a few case studies.
During the debate club meetings I actually attended, I sat and folded paper origami, doodled on the clean A4 paper they gave us
My English teacher used to try and torture us with compositions. I hated them too, but I found them fun because I got to use my imagination, which gathers dust because of the education system. I complete most of them in an hour. 30 minutes at home, 30 minutes in the school canteen just before assembly. I'm usually the top few in class, and this irritates my
My Lit teacher hates this even more. I grasp the plots of TV series very well. I worked out things like Chekov's Gun, Chekov's Skill, Chekov's MIA, etc. before realizing I'm not the first. I read way faster than most people. I should score well for Lit. More often than not, I'm thinking of jokes relating to the sexual puns and double entendres of the class's name. When I hit a mental block, I move on to pointing out plot holes, continuity errors, and mock the characters. And of course, I wonder what will happen if characters just make one different choice. Like Hermia becoming a nun in MSND. Or Macbeth accidentally murdering the wrong person.
The thing that would irk me most is that quote by Spiderman With great power, comes great insanity. Or is that Joker or Clark Kent?
Ah, never mind. Let's take a look at my issues, shall we?
I'm self-diagnosed: OCD, Asperger's.
I have a horribly cynical view of the world, fakes random accents just for fun, is a Night Owl, is an excellent deadpan snarky comedian, though I'd prefer that I'm not called a comedian because comedians make fun of stuff. I destroy stuff, often leaving just enough to leave it barely standing so that someone else can push it over. I literally can't live without my laptop, pretty much hates the world. I have mood swings, I swear, and I've figured out how to kill everybody in my class. The only reason why my classmates aren't disappearing one by one is because I can't be bothered to go through the process of killing, then hiding the bodies, all while maintaining my balancing-on-knife-edge sanity I have.
The only redeeming quality is that all the brilliant formulas like the general equation, or any simple, or simpler equation that solves a problem was thought of by some bored but intelligent person who looked at it and said, "There has gotta be an easier way..." and found that way.
So why did I post this essay? Oh, that's because even though I'm one of the ones you can rely on to churn out something awesome in an afternoon, you can't/shouldn't rely on me for projects, because I will ignore you for days and say, "Screw the project." It's a matter of time before I get to convince the teacher that I have got to get into a project where I'm alone. I can't screw up there, because I can't push the blame to anybody else. So, I'll do it. And just like who I am, I'll excel, and leave people puzzled because I'm seen to be a daydreamer with a powerful, but underused brain.
Okay, to put it simply, I need to do a project. I also need/want to update this blog. Both involves typing, and a thoughtful expression. Guess which appealed to me more?
Mabel, who can explain that the Drake Equation and Fermi Paradox can both be explained by using the philosophical theories of the Great Filter and the Rare Earth - Oh. Somebody replied to my tvtropes point. Better see what it is - OMG! That is so true! *become a fan* - You can do that with a paper aeroplane?! *5 stars*
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