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In reply to the discussion: My high school counselor said I wasn't "college material". Well, guess who passed the CA bar exam? [View all]GetRidOfThem
(869 posts)You should be proud of you success and achievements!
Here is my story, I am willing to share in comiseration:
I grew up with a manipulative and psychotic brother. My parents were highly protective of him, they thought they saw real genius. They made him my role model, and gave him absolute power over me. Which meant I never did anything right, because I was too "stupid". I flunked out of a very challenging school, the teachers never got the pattern. I was out by ninth grade.
My father had a change of heart, and put me into a very good private high school (the same one out of D.C. that one of the Trump kids is now attending). They picked up on my abilities, and quickly promoted me into advanced placement classes. All great and well, but it never compensated for the years of feeling diminutive. Though I was allowed to thrive, it all came to a horrible end when my father, my only supporter at home, suddenly passed of a heart attack while I was in grade twelve. Boy did that school step in: behind the scenes the college admissions counselor got me into the George Washington University.
Now I am being published by the Oxford University Press, work globally in a field I love, with a good conscience and being a global civil servant. The very sad fact is that my dictatorial older brother, though he has a PhD in Math (I am university published but do not have a PhD) is not employable and lives in part off my mother.
I still at times feel the pain of being told I do not have what it takes, but I have learned to put this into perspective as to what the weaknesses may be of the person implying this, i.e. I've learned how to fight.
So have you!