Ironically, another one of the major events in my scholastic career fell again on my birthday. This one my 17th.
I was born the youngest of 4 kids (trust me, this is going somewhere, I promise). My siblings are 5, 6, and 7 years older than me, and so naturally my brothers beat me and sold me into slavery after my dad got me a cool looking cloak.
Wait.
Sorry. That was Joseph. I just got home from church. Do you see what we with ADHD have to deal with??Wait.
My siblings are 5, 6, and 7 years older than me, so naturally I was living under a large shadow for much of my childhood. Do you know how hard it is to beat brothers that are 5 and 7 years older than you at anything? Sports? Out of the question. I was too small, too slow, and too scared to have a chance. Music? We all played an instrument, but no matter how musically you play, Mary Had a Little Lamb just doesn’t stand up next to a Beethoven sonata. Video games? Well, we only had two controllers, so the idea of me even getting to play was laughable at best.
That left school. The single advantage to being so much younger was that once my brothers had accomplished something, I had 5 to 7 years to reach that goal. It’s like a sprinter breaking a world record, because the record holder is now forty five years old and couldn’t run ten meters to save his life. So I had to set my sights on some of their accomplishments and aim to beat them. If you have any illusions that my relationship with my older brothers lacked a little bit of competition, it’s time to throw that idea out the window, and here’s why.
How many of you remember what your siblings got on the ACT or SAT tests? How many of you remember what YOU got on those tests? I do, and I was ten years old. Fourteen years ago, and I remember where I was exactly when my brother got his scores back. I was sitting at the kitchen table when my mom came in with the mail...
“Wes, your ACT scores just came in the mail!”
Why is my brother taking a test to be an actor? He would stink at that.
“Don’t open it, im coming!”
Don’t rush, you probably failed. You would be a terrible actor.
“Where is it? Gimme it!”
“It’s right here, are you nervous?”
“Shhh!” …. “29! I got a 29!”
“It’s right here, are you nervous?”
“Shhh!” …. “29! I got a 29!”
“Wow Wesley! Congratulations!”
“29, huh, Wes? I’m gonna get a 39 when I take it”
“29, huh, Wes? I’m gonna get a 39 when I take it”
“Be quiet Colin, you’re stupid.”
oh, ok.
….but I’m gonna beat that 29.
Seven years later, walking into my first ACT exam, (I knew what ACT meant, by this point) I had one singular thought on my mind. I’m gonna beat that 29.
Fast forward to my birthday, when I open the mailbox and see my name on an envelope. BIRTHDAY MONEY!!! Nope, even better. I basically galloped into the kitchen; ironically the same spot my brother had stood 7 years before and started tearing open the paper. Gotta beat that 29, gotta beat it.....
BEAT IT! Not even. De-STROYED it! MY WHOLE EXISTENCE IS VALIDATED.
And I did. And it felt great. I was on top of the world for about 3 weeks, until my Junior report card came back. C in English 11H, C in Pre-Calculus. Who knows what else. I delete bad things from my memory.
“Colin,” my name said in a tone I’d already become far too familiar with, “how do you get such incredible scores on the ACT and then get C’s in the exact same subjects in school?”
“I honestly don’t know, mom”
And I wouldn’t know for exactly three more years.
7 comments:
Ha this is great, you've got comedic timing down. But I'm really wanting to know what your ACT score was.
ummm I did the exact same thing with SATs. My mom once said that my sister was the smart one in the family and so my sole goal was to beat her SAT score, and I totally did! Yay for being the youngest and smartest kids everrr!!!
Colin, I LOVE reading your story! Keep it up, for reals.
Col, you're a great writer/story teller. I remember you telling me the ACT story way back in the day, but it's even more interesting to read it with all of the mental dialogue going on.
Keep 'em coming!
Colin, I see smart kids like you everyday in my classroom. They do what you have done for the same reasons. ADHD can pose some problems in school, but there are also advantages to it. Glad you have faced "the giant" and have/are working on the things you want to change.
What did you get on writing projects? You have a great style! Keep blogging!
Lindsay, thank you! And i WILL!
Kelsey,I appreciate that a lot, and I had totally forgotten that I told you about that!
Lorraine (I think), I guess I always did pretty well on writing assignments in school. I've always enjoyed writing, I've just never let other people read what i write
He's lying, guys. I wasn't that impressive.
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