Academic Overachiever: Junkie or Role Model?

In general, overachievers are individuals who perform better or achieve superior results due to excessive efforts in an academic or professional environment. I would not presume for a moment that I belong to this group unless I would not really identify myself with the issues overachiever’s have to deal with.

I got a very decent GPA during my undergrad degree and received a master degree with distinction which cost me quite some nerves and hair on the back of my head. Since I am from a non-target school I always tried to ace all finance related classes in order to compete with students that have more “favorable” backgrounds. I saw that as an obligation and became some sort of role model (or tutor) to of my fellow non-target students.

I can’t count how many books I have read during my studies voluntarily but believe me it was quite a lot. I know it sounds pathetic but I actually became some sort of finance junkie that tried to get his daily shot of financial concepts and theories. I am pretty sure that every one knows at least one kid that stayed in the library until he got kicked out and beaten up by the librarian for being such a burden. Well, unfortunately that was me.

During my addiction (not that I am sober now) I took shots of pretty much anything that was remotely related to finance. I read books ranging from Nassim Taleb’s black swan to Grahams intelligent investor. Anything from John Hull’s Options, Futures and Derivatives to Donald M. DePamphilis’s M&A activities. As you can see I didn’t even focus on one area, I just wanted to know everything that had the word finance in it.

For a long time I was sure (and naïve) that I should understand the underlying concepts before I pursue a career in that field. I am more that kind of guy who likes to learn about a topic in order to extract knowledge as opposed to use it later to get benefits (or jobs)

Being some sort of overachiever (or junkie) I really doubt that my life style – at least in my case – helped me a lot to progress in my career. Besides my unsatisfactory social life I had difficulties determining what path to pursue after graduation (I ended up in corporate finance/M&A advisory).

On the other hand I have built up a solid knowledge base about a variety of finance related topics. You learn for life not for your job right? Well, I am very interested what my fellow monkey thing about that issue. Do you think academic overachievers are more like role models or junkies? (if that comparison makes any sense to you at all?!)

 

What's the point in life to have everything and not to be able to share it with your family and almost nonexistent friends? Satisfaction?

It's a way to see things, but I prefer to have a 3.6 GPA + friends rather than a 3.95 GPA and no friends/geek squad group project "colleagues".

If you're happy with your life and landed your dream job, good for you, the sacrifices were worth it, but if not, I would personally be disappointed.

My two cents

 

Definitely not a role model if u r just a bookworm. And not a junkie if u r fairly extrovertive.

If you ain't gettin money dat mean you done somethin wrong. " If you have built castles in the air , your work need not be lost; that is where they should be . Now put the foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau
 
corporateape:
Being some sort of overachiever (or junkie) I really doubt that my life style – at least in my case – helped me a lot to progress in my career.

Most companies don't expect you to know anything useful when they hire you out of undergrad, but there are a smattering of companies that reward intellectual curiosity. In my case, I immersed myself in 'value investing' and was able to find a number of hedge funds looking for someone who didn't need any formal training. I doubt there are as many opportunities like that in corporate finance, but there are plenty of more creative options available if you decide to change career paths.

All I care about in life is accumulating bananas
 

I'm an overachiever but not because of effort, I just tend to be good at the things I do. I never tried or studied hard at all in college but walked away with pretty much straight A's. I rarely turned up to class and would just pay other kids for their notes.

I think over the years I've learned how to get the most bang for your buck and do things as efficiently as possible. Most people don't.

In my jobs, I've always spent the first few months busting my ass, reading as much as I can, first impressions count and the stuff you learn at the beginning gets compounded on and makes your life 100x easier in the long run (i.e, I rebuilt an entire operating model in my second week, 6 months later I just blew though one when we needed to build it from scratch, while the others were struggling. Guess who was going home at 7pm every night then)

 
newfirstyear:
I'm an overachiever but not because of effort, I just tend to be good at the things I do. I never tried or studied hard at all in college but walked away with pretty much straight A's. I rarely turned up to class and would just pay other kids for their notes.

I think over the years I've learned how to get the most bang for your buck and do things as efficiently as possible. Most people don't.

?

what you've described is the exact opposite of being an overachiever.

 
Best Response
newfirstyear:
I'm an overachiever but not because of effort, I just tend to be good at the things I do. I never tried or studied hard at all in college but walked away with pretty much straight A's. I rarely turned up to class and would just pay other kids for their notes.

I think over the years I've learned how to get the most bang for your buck and do things as efficiently as possible. Most people don't.

In my jobs, I've always spent the first few months busting my ass, reading as much as I can, first impressions count and the stuff you learn at the beginning gets compounded on and makes your life 100x easier in the long run (i.e, I rebuilt an entire operating model in my second week, 6 months later I just blew though one when we needed to build it from scratch, while the others were struggling. Guess who was going home at 7pm every night then)

Wow dude you're so smart.
 
newfirstyear:
I'm an overachiever but not because of effort, I just tend to be good at the things I do. I never tried or studied hard at all in college but walked away with pretty much straight A's. I rarely turned up to class and would just pay other kids for their notes.

I think over the years I've learned how to get the most bang for your buck and do things as efficiently as possible. Most people don't.

In my jobs, I've always spent the first few months busting my ass, reading as much as I can, first impressions count and the stuff you learn at the beginning gets compounded on and makes your life 100x easier in the long run (i.e, I rebuilt an entire operating model in my second week, 6 months later I just blew though one when we needed to build it from scratch, while the others were struggling. Guess who was going home at 7pm every night then)

U r just awesome my man.

If you ain't gettin money dat mean you done somethin wrong. " If you have built castles in the air , your work need not be lost; that is where they should be . Now put the foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau
 

You've chosen your words a bit clumsy in the OP I think. I wonder if the correct word to use for your situation is 'overachieving'. It sounds more to me that you just thought Finance was really interesting and, by reading, wanted to learn as much as possible about it.

On that note I am curious: you noted that you don't think reading so much books helped you to progress in your carreer. Did your above-average knowledge help you in other ways, such as when starting in / working at your M&A-advisory job?

 

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