I had two very contrasting school experiences growing up.
My primary school was an exceptional academic institution.
And my secondary school was a fairly standard state school.
During my primary school years,
I felt that I was the least intelligent person in any room I stepped into.
I acted out by talking in class or challenging teachers to get attention,
As I felt I needed to do something as a defence mechanism to combat my perceived academic inadequacy.
This doesn’t mean I was upset all the time,
But my self-image was very much so impacted by feeling incredibly unintelligent.
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In stark contrast,
When I entered my secondary school,
I was immediately thrusted into top sets due to the advantages I had from my primary school,
And my self-image changed almost instantaneously.
It was honestly like being born again.
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The purpose of this newsletter
Unfortunately,
I do not have any magic fix for being made to feel unintelligent.
But I guess that’s the point of this newsletter,
How the education system is set up in a way that makes so many students feel,
Unintelligent,
Lazy,
Not good enough,
Lost.
And this isn’t to absolve me or any of students of any agency in this story.
Of course, with enough positive affirmations and what not,
Anyone can believe anything,
I guess.
But I had no reason to think anything differently.
In primary school,
If someone would have told me you are academically intelligent,
It would have been like saying that Chelsea are not the biggest team in London,
(An obvious lie).
All the evidence,
What sets I was in,
What marks I was getting,
What the teachers said/implied.
All pointed in one direction.
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The impact of environment
I don’t think I really understood it at the time.
But the difference in how I viewed by myself academically between my last term of primary school and my first term of secondary school was dramatic.
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Part of me feels like this newsletter is a little sad.
We are all products of our environments.
Especially those that shaped us in our formative years.
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I guess what I wanted to do here,
Is to reaffirm that intelligence is in the eye of the beholder and is largely circumstantial.
I really did go from a very low point to a pretty high point – And my genes and DNA did not change in between.
What we try and do as a company is to show our students a new way to look and subsequently beat their exams.
And in the process,
Dismantling their negative self-perceptions that may have been holding them back in the process.
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I Can’t Read
When I was younger,
Reading was like poison to me.
It physically hurt me,
(or so I thought).
I knew I could read,
Of course.
But I thought I am just terrible at this,
And I don’t enjoy it,
And its only for nerds.
So I am going to avoid doing it at all costs.
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Reading is now one of my favorite activities.
This absolutely did not happen instantaneously,
And I still would not describe myself as a ‘good reader,’
Maybe that’s some of the negative self-talk creeping in.
But I do really value it,
And that only came from a change in my environment,
A change in the people I interacted with,
And a change in my self-identity.
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I guess all I am saying is I have done a 180 change in many academic respects,
And so can your teenager,
With the right influences.
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I hope everyone has a great week ahead,
Best wishes,
Joel