Throughout my school life, I consistently achieved top grades, ran along in a race for positions, grades, awards, and recognition. But as I grew up, I discovered that academic success is not the end, that there are more things that are also important for success in my life after school. I discovered why students with reports cards loaded with shiny grades somehow fall short in the outside world and fail to be what they wanted to be.

If you are a high achiever, position holder, or a student whose academic achievements have made them think they are perfect, this article is for you.

This article is meant to give deeper meaning to your grades, to help you shape your way of achieving them so that your education helps you in practical life too and doesn’t stay limited to school.

𝑬𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆.
— William Butler Yeats

Let’s explore the qualities of a student that can guide us to succeed beyond school.

𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧
One of the important rules of learning is to remember what you learn. I don’t mean memorizing proper standard definitions and all, I mean remembering the concept.

I regularly witness high achievers who, when asked about something they learned in previous classes, either give a textbook definition with remarkable speed while not knowing its explanation or remember nothing at all. This probably happens because they learn everything just for that year, not for the...