Crushing It

Periodically, someone comes into your life who inspires you.  For me, today, that person is Kelsey.

Kelsey was a student in my Managerial Accounting course in the fall of 2011.  Kelsey started fairly strongly in my course, with the 6^th highest score out of 55 students on the first exam.  Frankly, I hadn’t paid much attention to Kelsey through this point of the course.  She was quiet and sat in the back corner of the classroom, which is often reserved for less honest students who wish to shield their shifty eyes during exams with baseball caps and long hair.

Kelsey began to garner my attention more than half way through the course when she became one of the only students who would consistently speak up when my questions increased in complexity.  Her talents further intrigued me when she earned the top score on the second exam, missing only one question.  Around that time, I similarly noticed that she had only missed one question on her previous seven quizzes.  It was clear that Kelsey was finding her groove.

A day before the final exam, I let students know their current grade in my course and what score they needed on the final in order to receive a desired grade.  I told Kelsey that she needed to receive a mere 76% on the final, after a generous curve, in order to earn an A in the course.

Frankly, I didn’t like letting Kelsey know what she needed to earn on the final in order to receive an A in the course, as I figured she would slack off.  I wanted to see how she would score on my final while thinking she needed to give it her all.  Did Kelsey slack?  Did she back off and focus on other courses?  Not in the slightest.  She studied intensely and crushed the final exam, achieving a score that has been unsurpassed by students who have taken the course from me over the past eight years.

I was thrilled with the result and asked Kelsey about her motivation.  Kelsey said, “I just really don't like to go into things feeling unprepared.  Even if I think I "know" something I redo a practice problem or two just to make sure it sticks. Especially when it comes to cumulative final exams, I like to look back on things from early on in the semester.  I think another part of it is my personality...as you may have guessed, I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist, so yes, some of it is probably a little bit of "personal pride" and knowing that I did the best I could, even if I didn't necessarily have to.”

When I think back on some of the best students I ever had, I usually think of students who crushed papers, projects, and exams when they didn’t necessarily have to.  They crushed those assignments solely because they couldn’t accept anything less from themselves.

As I traverse through life, I want to be surrounded by people who aspire to crush tasks with which they are presented.  I want to be surrounded by people like Kelsey.