Let me begin my saying that this blog is not based on personal experience.  I have never been the best, smartest, or most talented in any arena, and I am okay with that.  An NY Times article that describes the hopes, aspirations and reflections of some area valedictorians is the basis of this entry.  As I was reading the article and the brief descriptions of each student, I was struck by the intense pressure that "the best" are faced with.  These students face pressure to attend prestigious schools, study the most challenging disciplines, maintain rigorous standards of academic achievement, and pursue professions that demand their time, energy and emotions.  Those students who have earned the title of valedictorian, salutatorian, ________ scholarship recipient, and others have pressure coming from the home, the classroom, the administration, peers, and themselves to out-perform everyone else.  Once excellence is achieved it must be maintained, which can be a daunting task.  Failure is not an option, but what happens when failure occurs?  Devastaion likely follows.  The students, the "best students", bear the burden of having to conform to the demands of a life of the highest expectations. The rest of us, the middle-of-the-road, not great, not terrible, have it made.  Although there are demands on our lives, the extreme pressure doesn't apply.  We get to experience a certain kind of liberty, not having to meet the highest of expectations but pleasantly surprising everyone when we do.  Failure is not completely unfamiliar but we are not best friends, either.  When it happens, we usually roll up our sleeves and determine to learn from our mistakes.