The central thing to me is - "quality of efforts" more than "quality of results". For anything sufficiently complicated or "difficult" - one needs to persevere.

The central thing to me is - "quality of efforts" more than "quality of results". For anything sufficiently complicated or "difficult" - one needs to persevere. There's nothing magically special in any place, like a university, except perhaps a few understanding people around to egg you on (that can make a big difference in the right conditions). But end of the day, it is the individual's effort that matters. Effort can make up for many, many deficiencies. More quality effort held steady over a long-enough time should produce at least tolerable results, if not exceptional results.