Looking back, elementary seemed pretty easy. Everything was really great. School lunch was gross and Full House was on TV at four o’clock. The toughest time I ever had in school making sure I brought the best thing for show and tell. But then I got to high school.  The biggest difference I can think of between elementary school and was in elementary school, talent was enough. Parents fawned over their child if he or she was good at a so-called chess prodigy. Teachers were in awe of a kid if he or she could do long division without being taught.

In high school, I learned that natural aptitude wasn’t going to cut it. I don’t know how many times a day I heard teachers say something along the lines of, “You have the talent to be a great student, if only you’d apply yourself.”

There is obviously a huge difference between second graders and juniors in high school. In elementary school, kids had talent and potential. In high school, kids have to learn the often-difficult lesson that talent isn’t worth anything without drive. High school kids need to learn the lesson to get good grades, gain admittance into good colleges, simply be the best in their classes.  But they don’t always get it.  Adults don’t always get it.

A boy I once knew, I’ll call him Herman, was a great singer. Nobody would dispute Herman’s talent. But Herman did not practice. When high school kids not quite as great as Herman were toiling away memorizing difficult arias from Don Giovanni, Herman played computer games.Then it came time to perform. Up onstage with the bright lights in his face, Herman, armed only with his talent, forgot the words. Another boy with half of Herman’s talent, but twice Herman’s drive, became the star of the show that night.

What does Herman prove? Talent isn’t enough. Everyone has known many people with incredible talent falter because of lack of practice. And I have known many other people with great talent succeed because of their dedication.

Back in elementary school, I was George Washington in the third grade play because I had a loud voice. I was so proud of being cast as the most important president of all time. I thought I was so talented. Lots of kids play George Washington (or his equivalent) in the third grade play. They also thought they were so talented. Some of these now-adults have relied on talent their entire lives and maybe it got them somewhere. But it didn’t get them as far as their third grade potential would have suggested. It doesn’t truly cut it. In high school, I learned this hard lesson after losing a leading part to a girl two years younger than I was after insufficiently preparing an audition monologue. Entering my adult life, I knew that if a person wanted to be really good at something, he or she had to buckle down and work at it.

Talent is an amazing gift. Those who take it for granted or throw it away like it is nothing are wasteful and ungrateful. When I want to throw in the towel and I wish I could reorganize my shoes instead, I think about the eventual reward I will get for my time. I hope that this strategy will really take me somewhere someday.