Now that my fiancee is on her way to becoming a doctor I’m seeing first hand just how much work it is to become a physician.  Considering how hard it was to get in to medical school, I should have known that it would be even tougher once she was actually in school.  But the one thing I never thought about was what it’s like to study and compete with so many over-achievers.

You remember in high school when teachers would assign summer reading?  I may have read a book or two but I’m pretty sure reading was at the bottom of my priority list when I was growing up.  There were probably a few kids who did all of the assigned reading and started reviewing class textbooks before school started but I definitely wasn’t one of them.  I was too busy out playing with my friends or more likely getting into trouble to care about reading a book like The Scarlet Letter.

Going above and beyond the call of duty has never been one of my strong suits.  In fact, there aren’t many things that come to mind that I’ve ever really over-achieved at.  But I think I’ve done pretty well for myself with this attitude of not wanting to be the best, but also not wanting to be just average.  I like being a little bit ahead of the curve but never too far out of sight. [Read more…]