I think a lot boils down to motivation as well. I was kind of lazy in my studies, and hated being teached several times the same things and most of the stuff w

I think a lot boils down to motivation as well. I was kind of lazy in my studies, and hated being teached several times the same things and most of the stuff we were doing was mostly theoric. Once I ended up in the workplace it felt to me my actual work had more value and I naturally put more energy to it and got more successes. And the same thing happen between different kind of companies. When I work for private companies whose products/services do not mean anything to me and where I feel the main goal is to satisfy shareholders, I have less motivation and energy than for instance when I was working for a public hospital. Some people don't care and their ultimate reward is the paycheck, some people want their work to have a meaning and a real value.