I was a pain in the ass as a kid. I was smart, and I was arrogant. Standing out academically—especially in geography, science, math—became something I depended on to make my different-ness a good thing. I won the science fair, held down the academic-bowl squad, and became the first person from my school to ever win that competition at the state level. I thought I could learn anything, and if I didn’t know something, it was just a matter of time until I would. I read the encyclopedia for fun, to teach myself facts. When I was a little older, I began methodically working my way through the
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