From a young age I have, excuse the arrogance, consistently performed academically. As my SATs and GCSEs breezed by with little prospect or fear of failure, I became confident in my ability to pass an exam and be praised for it. However, I then began my A Levels and, whilst still doing well academically, I was having to work much harder. A few hours of a revision became a few days, a few weeks and by the final year, a few months. This wasn't an abnormal for A Level students but it was fairly new to me: academically talented? Yes. Academically lazy? Apparently.
One of the subjects I studied was Chemistry which, I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed. A good friend, S, also took the subject and, although he never achieved a higher grade than me, he was clearly more gifted when it came to actually understanding the content of the course. I could regurgitate textbook explanations, I could even form simple theories from data but S could see the equations and molecules and experiments in a way I couldn't, he could put in a diagram information I need 3 paragraphs to explain: HE was intelligent.
Now both S and I nervously await our A Level Chemistry result: if I do okay, I'll get an A, if he does exceptionally well, he'll get an A: it's hardly fair! It was during my A Levels I realised that, whilst I may be knowledgeable because of a naturally capable memory, I am no more or less intelligent than your average student. This bought me down to Earth with an almighty bump and makes me fear how I will cope in a non-academic environment. My grades mean people expect someone clever but the truth is I can't problem solve, I can't create new solutions.
I am a mnemonist. S is a genius. But are we both 'intelligent'? Well the answer isn't in a textbook so, unfortunately, I don't know.
ITPTSO
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