There's a program in my school known as the 'Excelsior Society'. I'm not really sure what it does (it most likely just looks good on your resume) but to get into it, your overall averages for terms one and two combined had to equal ninety or above. Most students are inducted in seventh grade, but every year there are a few new eighth grade members.
Last year, I felt bitterly left out when I found I had not made the list. I was normally an A+ student, so it shouldn't have been too much of a problem for me to have gotten an average of 90 or above. Maybe it wouldn't have been, if it wasn't for accelerated math. You've all probably heard me complain about accelerated math at one point or another. It probably wouldn't have been too hard, if I actually put forth my best effort. But math isn't my favorite thing in the world, so I wasn't eager to get down to work. When I saw I had painfully low (for me, at least) grades in math, my enthusiasm headed for a downward slope. I asked myself why I even bothered. My effort and grades in English, Spanish, and Science decreased as well. I still somehow managed to achieve honor roll all three terms last year, but that wasn't enough to get me into the Excelsior Society.
When time came for the seventh grade inductees to be accepted into the program, I was miserable. They left in the middle of Spanish class. Almost seventy-five percent of the class left; even some of them I knew weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. The class had been drained of everyone but people like Stripes, and AIS students. A wave of humiliation swept over me. The only people who hadn't been let in were complete idiots! I wasn't an idiot; I wasn't even close! I knew I was highly intelligent, and that I deserved better than this. I struggled through the rest of Spanish class, embarrassed to be present in the room full of fools. Anger twisted in my throat; anger at myself for allowing my grades to get that low, anger fueled by jealousy of the students that were inducted into the program, anger at the idiots who surrounded me for lowering my confidence even further.
I didn't ever want to go through that kind of humiliation and self-regret again. I vowed I would make up for what I didn't do last year. I would make it into the Excelsior Society no matter what it took. I chose to drop out of accelerated math, fearing that it would have the same effect on my average as last year. I put forth my full effort in every other class; I provided Mr. Wiest with detailed answers to every short answer question he issued out, I always completed my homework (except for on a few occasions, but who hasn't done that?), I even attempted to get in the game in gym class. And I succeeded.
A week or so ago, I received a letter in the mail. I scanned through it, tears brimming in my eyes. It was a letter typed especially for me, indicating that I had been inducted into the Excelsior Society. I had kept my vow till the very end, and it paid off. Now I wouldn't have to sit through another trial of embarrassment and grief, and I could finally claim my position where I really belonged-- nowhere but the top.