ShmoopTube

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We speak student!

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Achievement and Excellence

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a la Shmoop [image of an apple kept on a book]

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Doctor Fran and Doctor Dan are both surgeons.

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Doctor Fran's worked hard her entire life.

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She was at the top of her class, [two surgeons talking to each other]

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excelled in her internship,

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and is now a resident at the best hospital in the state.

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Doctor Dan...

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hasn't done that.

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He was in the bottom percent of his class,

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barely scraped by in his internship, [Dr. Dan walking while the background changes]

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and is now a resident at this hospital. [ chuckle ]

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Reassuring, right?

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Well, Doctor Fran and Doctor Dan each complete two surgeries during the day.

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Doctor Fran's go off without any problems.

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Her work is excellent and at the end of the day,

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she has two healthy patients and feels pretty darn good about herself. [Dr Fran talking to two of her patients in the hospital]

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Doctor Dan's surgeries? Well, they got done.

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But his good-enough attitude leads to some issues.

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He sews up one of his patients

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without checking to see if he left anything inside of him.

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And he amputated the wrong leg on this guy. [Dr. Dan amputating left leg of a patient]

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Looks like he'll be all right though. [ clears throat ]

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But, hey, Doctor Dan finished his surgeries.

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Yeah, so they weren't amazing.

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Big deal.

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Why should he care about delivering excellent results

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when he can get by on good enough? [a patient screaming in pain]

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Well, here's the thing.

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Mediocrity is fine and dandy, but it

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doesn't make us feel accomplished

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and what if it was you undergoing that surgery?

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Anyone can give a C effort,

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but it's the A plus efforts that make us feel great [a girl happy about pizza party for A grade students]

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and boost our confidence and, well, improve the world.

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And achieving excellence in any facet of your life

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tends to make people sit up and take notice of you.

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That's why Doctor Fran is here

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and Doctor Dan is here. [image of Dr. Fran and Dr. Dan with their certificates in their offices]

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We're not knocking mediocrity.

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Hey, it's better than apathy,

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like Doctor Stan over here.

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Probably don't wanna go to Doctor Stan.

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But the feeling of accomplishment we get when we achieve a goal is pretty great. [two doctors talking to each other]

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And we definitely aren't saying you need

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to perform brain surgery while playing Mozart

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and reciting Shakespeare to achieve excellence.

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It can be as simple as shaving a minute off of your mile time,

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learning a new piece of music,

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or finally getting that promotion at work. [someone playing a piano]

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Really it's anything that makes you feel accomplished.

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You can be a Doctor Dan

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and go through your life doing everything good enough,

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or you can be a Doctor Fran, work hard, and achieve your goals.

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Seriously, you don't wanna be a Doctor Stan. [a patient shaking hands with Dr. Fran and thanking her]

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Who gave this guy a license?

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