Back then in school I always knew I was not learning the much I know from my teachers, it was out of my curiosity if something. We go to school every day because we don't want our parents to feel we were wayward or not serious with our lives.
Every time I see students that are doing far better than myself, it always made me happy instead of sad because I knew there was something I was good at but no matter how he or she tries, they won't be able to do what I do. I realized that everyone is who they are, they have their own unique thing that makes them stand out.
There are some that loves going to school because they easily understand what they are thought, why there are some that it's almost impossible to understand even a simple sentence and also, there are some that are struggling to do well and it just works for them even if it's not the best. I'm in the last category, I struggled through my secondary school, I never for once came first in anything, sometimes I felt like a dullard but I knew I wasn't.
There are many people out there who didn't go for special classes to acquire a skill but they are so good at it that even those that claim to be learned go to them for help. You are a great writer here because you saw that it was not a do or die affair, you had the choice to grow at your own pace and that was what we lacked the most while we were in school. It's very hard for parents to give their children the chance to grow at their own pace, it's almost impossible.
Just like you concluded, you are the one that says the end and we the readers just have to flow with it.