Eh, even if you'd been just one of many Smart Kids (I say, as the slacker in my group of Sooper Genius Smartasses), that's a hard habit to get out of, especially once you're no longer in school and there's less motivation to do something about it.

Probably true. And while it's easy to second-guess my childhood and think, "If only I'd had X everything would've been so much better," I kept coasting academically when I got to college, even though I enjoyed having a whole crowd of Super Genius Smartasses to hang out with and getting to take interesting classes.

I do wish I'd imbibed a little less arrogance along the way, though. It's not a pleasant trait, to say the least, and I think it clouds my judgment. F'rinstance, I'm having a hard time judging my level of writing skill and how much attention I should pay to all the writing advice that's out there, because while I think I have a strong voice that I shouldn't muck with by paying too much attention to all the latest fads for How To Sell Your Romance Novel, what if that's just the arrogance talking, and I'd be published if I'd just stop being so damned stubborn and embrace deep POV and the Goal-Motivation-Conflict system for structuring a novel?

I never learned good study habits. I learned how to learn things quickly; I learned how to write exceptionally well; I learned how to use those two abilities to coast at every opportunity. And it's been a bitch of a thing.

I do wish I'd imbibed a little less arrogance along the way, though. It's not a pleasant trait, to say the least, and I think it clouds my judgment.

I know it can cloud mine when allowed full flower. Which is why I should talk to my father more often. He has a way of deflating any over-inflation of my ego with one or two pointed questions and/or musing on high level math stuff that's light years beyond me.

Hey! I should loan him to Emily. She's having a horrible week, and Dad could talk math at her and make things all better! Plus he'd have someone to talk to who understands what he's talking about!

Hey! I should loan him to Emily. She's having a horrible week, and Dad could talk math at her and make things all better! Plus he'd have someone to talk to who understands what he's talking about!

Heh. Nothing like living with a very smart, mathy person to keep things in perspective!

He has a way of deflating any over-inflation of my ego with one or two pointed questions and/or musing on high level math stuff that's light years beyond me.

That'd certainly deflate me nicely. t Barbie Math is hard! t /Barbie

I did my homework because my mother was a teacher in the school system and the fear that my teachers would snitch on me was enough of a motivation. By the time I got to college and tried to goof-off, I found the guilt to be ingrained.

A friend in law school dubbed me the "hardest working lazy person" he knew.

I learn most things easily, but when I run across something that takes a little effort, I'm nearly offended by it.

This is me, and I think I am just learning how to study now because of it. I never developed study skills in grade school because I never have to. I never read the textbooks because I learned that I was only going to be tested on the lectures. This was not an advantage to me at all when I started college.

I did my homework because my mother was a teacher in the school system and the fear that my teachers would snitch on me was enough of a motivation.

My mother worked in the school system I went to and my teachers snitched on me on a regular basis. It didn't seem to matter to me. I am fearful of the stubborn children I could have one of these days for payback.

I never, ever did my homework. I got suspended from primary school a few times because of it. By secondary school I'd figured out ways to get around doing most of it. I'm just naturally lazy. Plus homework was always just the same thing you'd been doing in school all day, and it was far more interesting to go outside and play with friends, or read a book, or watch tv or... anything that wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing.

Edited to add

This is me, and I think I am just learning how to study now because of it. I never developed study skills in grade school because I never have to. I never read the textbooks because I learned that I was only going to be tested on the lectures. This was not an advantage to me at all when I started college.

Yes, this.

I never learned good study habits. I learned how to learn things quickly; I learned how to write exceptionally well; I learned how to use those two abilities to coast at every opportunity. And it's been a bitch of a thing.

Brenda is me. I was a smart kid who moved to a small South Georgia town, and I never had to put forth the least effort to make A's. College was a terrible shock to me, since I didn't have the foggiest idea how to study. In high school, all I had to do was read the book. I can pretty much remember anything I've read and I read fast. I found these talents of no help at all in organic chemistry.

I have several friends who have had terrible times with their teenage daughters, both bright girls who simply won't do the work, no matter how much they're punished or rewarded. In one case, I think it's because the cool kids don't study. In the other, schoolwork apparently got in the way of her memorizing The Lord of the Rings.