I can still hear my high school science teacher's warning/chide/encouragement to everybody else 'Just wait until those smart people who don't have to study get

I can still hear my high school science teacher's warning/chide/encouragement to everybody else 'Just wait until those smart people who don't have to study get to college. They're going to be stuck, while those of you who have to work for it will be prepared.' She was right, I knew she was right, and experience proved her out. Alternatively, my best friend and chief competitor in 8th grade made me a better problem solver. A checklist on the wall listed the various math modules to be worked through in a self-paced course, and he and I were out in the lead as measured by checkmarks. I'd probably have coasted otherwise. Too bad we moved the next year.