School vs. Life - the Art of Figuring It Out

Looking back, it’s clear I spent a lot of time in school optimizing for the “right answers”—not realizing, of course, how heavily I’d internalized this mindset. I wasn’t fully conscious of it then, but I’d over-adapted to a system that rewarded precise, predictable responses.

It was all about decoding tests and people. I learned how to align with what teachers wanted, getting close to the information that was “correct.” This created a strange, layered skill set that’s stayed with me, a kind of meta-awareness that isn’t really useful outside of school. I got excellent at regurgitating facts, delivering what the system wanted, and then figured out social nuances in a similar way. I learned to judge situations, to gauge the “right” answer, and to read social dynamics.

But out in the real world, answers aren’t fixed. What’s “right” changes constantly, and, more importantly, I’m the one who has to decide what’s right. There isn’t a pre-set syllabus or answer key to guide the way. Life is a mix of predictable and unpredictable, and navigating that requires flexibility, not just an understanding of answers but of shifting possibilities.

The challenge now is letting go of that need for certainty—learning to exist and act without being the judge, jury, and crowd all at once. I want to be the one who just moves, attempts, shoots my shot without overthinking each step. Like dancers in a competition, some probably perform to win, aligning their moves with what the judges want. But the best, I think, lose themselves in the music and the moment, syncing up with what feels right, not what’s validated.

I'm working toward that, shifting from optimizing for answers to being present with uncertainty, letting my instincts take over without dissecting every action. It’s the ultimate shift—trusting myself to just be, rather than trying to always be "right" (which, again, is literally a projection + reflection of my own perceptions).