This is not a good time to panic
Chemistry exam on Monday. It has occurred to me that if I had signed up for Philosophy instead, like a good little student, I could still attend the Chemistry lectures. And the Philosophy exam is much, much easier. And now I need to score at least a 4 in Chemistry if I want to keep my scholarship. Why am I even doing this?
I guess I didn't just want to learn something new (although that's also nice, of course). I wanted people to know. I wanted everyone to see that I'm doing something unexpected.
You see, I never knew what I wanted to do with my life until I found myself doing it. But I always knew one thing. Whatever it was I was going to do, I wanted to be good enough at it to get away with some of my quirks. But is getting away with things the best I can hope for? The idea of the eccentric genius is ingrained in people's minds and I think I can use it to my advantage. When people see you doing something in an unusual way, they tend to think you're too dumb to do it properly... Unless, that is, they have a reason to think you're smart or skilled. Then they assume you must be good enough at what you do to be allowed to do it any which way you please. Which is exactly what I want.
So when people started asking me strange questions about why I'm studying Maths at the Institute of Informatics and about that whole quantum thing, I saw this as a chance. What was I trying to be, they would ask, some sort of omnidisciplinary weirdo? I could only answer, yes, and I was going to be good at it.
I guess I didn't just want to learn something new (although that's also nice, of course). I wanted people to know. I wanted everyone to see that I'm doing something unexpected.
You see, I never knew what I wanted to do with my life until I found myself doing it. But I always knew one thing. Whatever it was I was going to do, I wanted to be good enough at it to get away with some of my quirks. But is getting away with things the best I can hope for? The idea of the eccentric genius is ingrained in people's minds and I think I can use it to my advantage. When people see you doing something in an unusual way, they tend to think you're too dumb to do it properly... Unless, that is, they have a reason to think you're smart or skilled. Then they assume you must be good enough at what you do to be allowed to do it any which way you please. Which is exactly what I want.
So when people started asking me strange questions about why I'm studying Maths at the Institute of Informatics and about that whole quantum thing, I saw this as a chance. What was I trying to be, they would ask, some sort of omnidisciplinary weirdo? I could only answer, yes, and I was going to be good at it.