Academic excellence is overrated! Being top of your class does not necessarily guarantee that you will be at the top of life. You could graduate as the best student in Finance, but it doesn’t mean you will make more money than everybody else. The best graduating Law student does not necessarily become the best lawyer. The fact is, life requires more than the ability to understand a concept, memorize it, and reproduce it in an exam.
School rewards people for their memory; life rewards people for their imagination. School rewards caution; life rewards daring. School hails those who live by the rules; life exalts those who break the rules and set new ones.
Don’t sacrifice every other thing on the altar of First Class. Don’t limit yourself to the classroom. Do something practical; take a leadership position; start a business
…and fail. Join or start a club. Contest an election and lose. Attend a seminar. Read books outside the scope of your course.
Do something you believe in!
Think less of becoming an excellent student; think more of becoming an excellent person.
MAKE THE WORLD YOUR CLASSROOM!
—Anonymous [Edited]