Observation

I think I'm a pretty nice person. I always try to be nice to others, not put people down, and I try to never be condescending to people or make myself sound better than them (not too hard, since I'm usually not). Yet, there have been a couple of times during the last couple of semesters that I can tell that people think I'm acting like I'm better than them. (Who knows, maybe elsewhere, but this is where I've really noticed it.)

If I answer too many questions, if I try to explain why I think something is a certain way, or if I just do well, there's always someone who doesn't like it. Instead of people thinking, 'wow, good job', there are always those who think, 'she thinks she's so great' or 'she thinks she's better than me'. On the contrary. I don't think about them at all. What they don't seem to get is that I don't care if they do or don't understand the material; I don't care if they do or don't do well. If they do - great, good for them, I'm happy. But I'm there for me. I ask and answer questions because I want to learn. I work hard and try to do my best because I want to make sure I really understand everything that I'm being taught, not just enough to get by. I don't do any of it to make myself seem better than others. Yet, that's the way it's perceived.

But I realize that, to some extent, this is human nature. How many times do we see someone who seems perfect--perfect children, they never seem to get angry, beautiful house that's clean all of the time, smart, talented--yet, instead of thinking, 'wow, good job', we think, 'she's so perfect' and try to find some kind of flaw in the person. I try not to, but I know I'm guilty of that. Why can't we be happy for others and cheer them on for being somewhere that we hope to be someday.