NYT article on multiple valedictorians

[nightchef]

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I will note that this has not been my observation–my observation is that the top students don’t find high school work very difficult, and do not have to work that hard to achieve. They have to be willing to do the work, but they often do not have to study for hour upon hour to get good grades.

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<p>Yup. The valedictorian in my high school was neither the smartest nor the hardest-working kid; he wasn’t even the hardest-working smart kid. He liked to party and really didn’t show much interest in intellectual pursuits at all.</p>

<p>What he had going for him was a real skill–I’m tempted to call it a talent–for taking care of his business; for being aware at any given moment of exactly what he needed to do in every class to keep up and do well, and doing it with zero procrastination or excess complication. He wasn’t a genius, and he wasn’t a world-class worker bee; he was <em>efficient</em>. In my experience, that’s the sine qua non for a straight A student. Of course you have to be smart, and you have to not be lazy. But lots of kids with those qualities don’t have that ability to “just do it” that our val so conspicuously possessed.</p>