Blog Number 6

Many people believe that being smart is a blessing, but I know it is a curse. Being the only one to raise your hand, you think it's strange. Earning a one hundred percent on a test, you know you're different. Realizing you are the one people come to for help, and you're sure: you are smart. Many people look up to you because of your smartness, many people hate you for it, but, most importantly, many people fear you.

Being intellegent and being smart are two similar, yet extremely distinct things. On the one hand, if you are intellegent, you are trusted by your friends as a foundation for help, but if you are smart, you are a foundation for everyone. Intellegence is natural, you are able to grasp concepts or ideas and remember formulas easier, but smart is branded upon you. Once you are smart, there is no turning back, and the trouble is it's completely out of your control.

All my life, I have been the smart kid. I have higher test scores, greater knowledge of literature and history than most of my peers, but I also have the burden of maintaining all of these things. If my scores slip, my parents are troubled, and my peers are suprised. If I answer wrong in class, teachers frown and think for a second before moving on, and I simmer inside, wishing it would never happen again. The pressure is great, and the rewards are few. I have many more enemies and rivals than the average person: every other "smart" person is a threat. We're the type of arrogant, proud people who are willing to fight for the honor of valedictorian until death, because it is what is expected of us, and there are no holds barred.

This existence, in reality, is meaningless. Intellegence is the thing to be prasied- smart is just the ability to do well on tests. But tests don't really mean anything. How quickly you are able to figure out what 1+2 equals, or how well you write an essay isn't a proper gauge of your innate intellegence, because intellegence is a life long endeavor. Smart is permanent, yet superfluous. I didn't choose to be this way, my peers branded me as smart, and I have remained so ever since, unable to stray from that path.