Another anecdote of just how big a deal class rank was in high school and why not bragging was not a thing for any of us:
In the last days of senior year, the principal invited the top ten students to a McDonald's breakfast in a faculty lounge, in order to reveal the final rankings. While we were sitting around the table eating, the principal read aloud from a sheet of paper.
"#1: Mildred."
No surprises there.
"#2: Makoto."
Everyone sits up and takes notice. Makoto has been third until now! Erik gasps, Makoto lets out an exclamation of joy.
"#3: [Someone who is not Erik.]"
Jaws drop.
"#4: [Someone else who is not Erik.]"
Erik's face is turning bright red. Everyone is looking around in confusion and shock.
"#5: [Someone who is still not Erik."]
Erik goes an even deeper shade of red.
"Oh, wait, this is the alphabetical list. I'll go get the class rankings."
Erik exhales involuntarily, in a way that tells you he hasn't been able to breathe through all this. Suddenly everything makes sense: my last name begins with B, Makoto's last name begins with B, Erik is an R!
Mutterings about what a travesty it is that the principal is so out of touch it didn't even strike her as weird that Erik wasn't anywhere near the top of the list. Everybody knew exactly where they and everyone else were in the pecking order.
Later it occurred to me that alphabetically by last name, I was second on the principal's list. She must unconsciously skipped over the girl before me to read my name first (I'm sure it helped that my first and name had almost twice as many characters combined, so it would have been more visually striking), and then just read mindlessly from there.
In other words, she didn't know how any of the other students were ranked, but she damn well knew I was first!
This is entirely because I didn't quietly make good grades and answer questions, but I went around broadcasting my intelligence, engagement, accomplishments, rule-abiding-ness, and general superiority to the other students on the one hand, and my unmet intellectual needs on the other, to everyone I met on pretty much every occasion.
It was a deliberate strategy (and unquestioned way of life) that paid off, because academic success was set up to be a zero-sum game, and I got special treatment by raising awareness of how much I both needed and deserved it.
Said principal did not know me that well (we knew each other to talk to, but that was it), but I know she knew a lot more *about* me and my situation, because people talked about me. I know this not just because she skipped over the name before mine because only I could possibly be valedictorian, but because she was the one who had an aunt who did philanthropy and got that aunt to pay for my correspondence courses in Latin and astronomy senior year. I had never asked for this! I didn't know it was possible! I just went around broadcasting my need to study these things and the travesty of not even having a teacher at the school who was qualified to do an independent study (unlike European history). One day, a teacher informed me that something had been set up via the principal and her aunt.
I suspect I came up at a faculty meeting! I had celebrity status at that school (in that school district, actually), and that reflected the hard work of not just the academic side but also the PR side. :P
Exhibit A:
The librarian and I are working behind the circulation desk at the library, scanning and sorting books. Some girl I don't recognize comes over.
Her: "Are you Mildred?...I heard you [accomplishment 1] and [accomplishment 2] and [accomplishment 3] and you're writing a novel [the only one I specifically remember her enumerating]!...Okay, I just wanted to meet you."
Librarian, after she's out of earshot: "I thought she was going to ask for your autograph."
Me: "I thought the same thing!"
Exhibit B:
I've long since graduated. My mother is walking down the hallway of a different school in the district. My sister is with her.
Some woman comes over, with a similarly fannish attitude. "Hi, you're Mrs. Midgard, right? Is this Mildred?!"
Mom: "Oh, awkward. Uh, no, this is my other daughter."
Some woman: "Oh. Well, nice to meet you."
I wouldn't have gotten this just by making good grades. I got this by being clear on the fact that my parents were not going to meet my intellectual needs, and that I needed the outside world to make up as much of the difference as possible.
So no, I was kind of the opposite of E in this respect. ;)
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Date: 2022-06-19 05:44 pm (UTC)In the last days of senior year, the principal invited the top ten students to a McDonald's breakfast in a faculty lounge, in order to reveal the final rankings. While we were sitting around the table eating, the principal read aloud from a sheet of paper.
"#1: Mildred."
No surprises there.
"#2: Makoto."
Everyone sits up and takes notice. Makoto has been third until now! Erik gasps, Makoto lets out an exclamation of joy.
"#3: [Someone who is not Erik.]"
Jaws drop.
"#4: [Someone else who is not Erik.]"
Erik's face is turning bright red. Everyone is looking around in confusion and shock.
"#5: [Someone who is still not Erik."]
Erik goes an even deeper shade of red.
"Oh, wait, this is the alphabetical list. I'll go get the class rankings."
Erik exhales involuntarily, in a way that tells you he hasn't been able to breathe through all this. Suddenly everything makes sense: my last name begins with B, Makoto's last name begins with B, Erik is an R!
Mutterings about what a travesty it is that the principal is so out of touch it didn't even strike her as weird that Erik wasn't anywhere near the top of the list. Everybody knew exactly where they and everyone else were in the pecking order.
Later it occurred to me that alphabetically by last name, I was second on the principal's list. She must unconsciously skipped over the girl before me to read my name first (I'm sure it helped that my first and name had almost twice as many characters combined, so it would have been more visually striking), and then just read mindlessly from there.
In other words, she didn't know how any of the other students were ranked, but she damn well knew I was first!
This is entirely because I didn't quietly make good grades and answer questions, but I went around broadcasting my intelligence, engagement, accomplishments, rule-abiding-ness, and general superiority to the other students on the one hand, and my unmet intellectual needs on the other, to everyone I met on pretty much every occasion.
It was a deliberate strategy (and unquestioned way of life) that paid off, because academic success was set up to be a zero-sum game, and I got special treatment by raising awareness of how much I both needed and deserved it.
Said principal did not know me that well (we knew each other to talk to, but that was it), but I know she knew a lot more *about* me and my situation, because people talked about me. I know this not just because she skipped over the name before mine because only I could possibly be valedictorian, but because she was the one who had an aunt who did philanthropy and got that aunt to pay for my correspondence courses in Latin and astronomy senior year. I had never asked for this! I didn't know it was possible! I just went around broadcasting my need to study these things and the travesty of not even having a teacher at the school who was qualified to do an independent study (unlike European history). One day, a teacher informed me that something had been set up via the principal and her aunt.
I suspect I came up at a faculty meeting! I had celebrity status at that school (in that school district, actually), and that reflected the hard work of not just the academic side but also the PR side. :P
Exhibit A:
The librarian and I are working behind the circulation desk at the library, scanning and sorting books. Some girl I don't recognize comes over.
Her: "Are you Mildred?...I heard you [accomplishment 1] and [accomplishment 2] and [accomplishment 3] and you're writing a novel [the only one I specifically remember her enumerating]!...Okay, I just wanted to meet you."
Librarian, after she's out of earshot: "I thought she was going to ask for your autograph."
Me: "I thought the same thing!"
Exhibit B:
I've long since graduated. My mother is walking down the hallway of a different school in the district. My sister is with her.
Some woman comes over, with a similarly fannish attitude. "Hi, you're Mrs. Midgard, right? Is this Mildred?!"
Mom: "Oh, awkward. Uh, no, this is my other daughter."
Some woman: "Oh. Well, nice to meet you."
I wouldn't have gotten this just by making good grades. I got this by being clear on the fact that my parents were not going to meet my intellectual needs, and that I needed the outside world to make up as much of the difference as possible.
So no, I was kind of the opposite of E in this respect. ;)