[800-Character Column] I'm Doing My Best in Life

Sometimes you come across people who, when they fail at something and someone else succeeds, immediately jump to the conclusion that the other person must have cheated.

I can understand the frustration of wanting to say, "I'm supposed to be more talented, and my loss isn't my fault," but to put it cruelly, that just means their self-assessment doesn't match their actual ability.

I believe that the real deal is someone who can achieve the desired results even in unfavorable situations, and that those who can achieve results are the ones with true ability; those who cannot must simply accept their defeat.

Defeat or setbacks, whether in entrance exams or otherwise, don't determine the outcome of your entire life based on one situation, and I believe that if you have a goal, you just have to keep trying.

Even so, in every world, there are always people you can't beat no matter how hard you try.

I have always thought about how to keep chasing those people, or if I can't catch up, which parts of them I should try to emulate, and I still do that today. Conversely, I don't think you should blame others for your own shortcomings, try to put others down, or talk as if your inability to perform is everyone else's fault.

Speaking of cheating, I was once accused of it myself because I chose French for my university entrance exams.
People would ask, "Isn't it easier to take the exam in French?"

In reality, choosing French is by no means a sufficient condition for an advantage; you have to study just as hard as you would for English, and unlike English, there are no prep schools, so if you fall behind in your school studies, there is no safety net.

Before that, since few universities accept French for entrance exams, you also face the major disadvantage of having fewer options when applying. And if it were really that easy, wouldn't the prep school industry be opening French exam courses en masse to turn it into a business of leading students down a "shortcut"?

Those who call me a cheater don't care about any of that; they just desperately try to dig up material to look down on me...

I used to think, if you have time for that, just study instead (sweat)!