When Academic Success Doesn't Translate Into Real-Life Success

As the month comes to a close, I reflect on the fact that I wasn't a good student. I remembered telling everyone at the graduation ball, "I almost didn't graduate from high school." I barely passed high school. I was always in panic because of the statement, "Your grades will determine your future!" I remember saying, "Well, what can I do? I'm not a summa cum laude!" I was given the painful answer, "There are some summa cum laudes who never did anything with their lives." Some people are failures all throughout (which I use to justify being stuck with my fixed mindset). Some people are failures at first but become successful (although not necessarily billionaires). Some people are both successful in life and academics, such as the late John Gokongwei Jr. or Mahathir Mohamad. Some people who graduated with honors eventually admit that the school system is too focused on grades rather than learning (read here). Since these people are private citizens, I will respect their privacy by not mentioning their names.

It's annoying when people brag about that finished school in the hardest-to-enter schools, such as the Greenbelt schools in the Philippines. I don't deny that I wasn't qualified for the University of the Philippines or the Ateneo De Manila University. I had this foolish notion that if I graduated there, I would become invincible for life. However, that's just merely an edge and not a guarantee that a degree from UP or ADMU should translate into invincibility. In fact, I was laughing when I heard that a girls' school (now co-ed) in Cebu City, had an arrogant teacher telling the students they would "always be successful" because they graduated from said school!

This makes me think why I'm not always impressed with cum laudes these days. Even people way smarter than I am tell me not to let such blind adoration blind me. I'm not going to deny that Raoul Abellar Manuel graduated from a difficult course in a difficult university. However, I must question a graduate in Applied Mathematics, why he endorses the idea of #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics (read here). Even funnier, Raoul tries to win a debate by pointing out his cum laude status, rather than learning something new. 

This kind of attitude would show why some academically successful people fail in real life. It's because they have a fixed mindset. Businesses can fail when they rely on their past successes (read here). Both Gokongwei and Mohamad advocate for continuous learning. That's why I advocate for Filipinos to listen to Mohamad rather than Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (read here). Past successes don't always equal present successes or even future successes. Think about what happened to Nokia when it refused to adapt to the trend. The same can be true for people who think their academic success is some kind of amulet of invincibility. 

I could use this illustration. A person may be so busy polishing his trophies that he or she fails to learn something new. A person may be so busy polishing a gigantic statue of pure gold (hyperbole) somewhere that he or she forgets to learn something new. The problem isn't academic success. Although, I'm still wary of the Philippine education system being outdated. The real problem is when academic success becomes a justification not to learn anything. One had an advantage in academic success. Instead of learning from that success, such people chose to cling to it, and instead set themselves up for failure in the present.