A Scholar's Curse

As I walk down the hallway

With my oversized textbooks

No one says hi.

As I sit in class

Searching for a project partner

No one volunteers.

As I sit alone

Eating my lunch in a corner

No one looks over.

To my classmates, I am invisible

Until I win the President’s Award.

Walking down the hallway

Random strangers greet me

Telling me “keep it up.”

Sitting in class

Everyone wants to pair with me

Telling me I matter.

Eating lunch

Everyone stares.

Wondering how I succeed.

Now everyone thinks

My life is perfect.

I am the subject of envy

Because I have an A in honors.

I am the subject of fear

Because my grades intimidate them.

I am the subject of curiosity

Because no one understands why I try.

They think I’m perfects

They’re sadly mistaken.

I am human as well

And I have struggles just the same.

Struggles too deep to speak of

Especially to classmates.

No one regards this

Because they think challenge is an excuse to fail

And because they don’t know me.

My grades matter at school.

But I don’t.

I am just another person

That no one needs.

My 4.09 is popular

But my name remains unknown.

I am nothing to their world

But a GPA.