Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for December 01, 2021

Wow.

We aim to please. You aim, too, please.

Not everyone is an A student. But I’m happier with a student working at a C level than a student goofing off at the A level (but perhaps we need more advanced classes for them to keep them challenged too).

As I used to write on the top of a Latin test that I knew I was about to fail … “Nemo dat quod non habit” (You can’t give what you don’t have!)

Maybe he needs a scope.

We all have skills, but we are not necessarily good at everything. If you did your best, that’s what counts……

The problem I have with parental comments such as what Baldo’s father just was shown to utter is a student’s “best” is usually measured against a "perfect " score.

As I explained to my seventh grade English teacher, M. Wall, "Of course I can do better! But “excellence” has its own built-in traps – once “A” level work is produced, anything else is rejected as “not meeting expectations”, whereas solid “B” work is applauded as being above the norm without placing me in a spotlight, so to speak.

I’ve always been able to “do better” – but to what end?

As the man said to his partner when they encountered the bear in the woods, "I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun YOU. Even as a child, I’ve taken a pragmatic view of life.

“Be Best” is stupid; “Be Better” is always more advantageous in the long run, putting pressure where it would do the most good, on those that would have you strive for exceptionalism.

Almost half of all people have an IQ below average.

Ouch. I know the feeling, Baldo.