I help people and they get higher marks than me. I feel cheated. What can I do?
I'm doing my first year of engineering and I've noticed something: the people I help out with studies always get higher marks than me. I'm used to getting A's (though my marks didn't exceed 90%), so I think I'm quite good academically. Last week, I helped out a girl in computer programming, and she got 20/20 for that assignment while I got only 14/20. I'm not a really competitive guy now, I don't feel super jealous when I see other people getting higher marks than me. I wouldn't mind if I had obtained 18 or 19, but now I feel bad. I really want to get A's minimum, and I need more than 75% to get an A (I got 70% in that assignment). A week before that, I helped a guy for the physics homework, he obtained 8/10 while I got 7/10 (less than 75%, not A then). I feel really, really cheated. Am I being too helpful? Are people abusing me? I don't care if those people get ranked higher than me, I just want to get my A's.
In junior high, I was first in class, my marks were always 90+. I never helped people with assignments or anything. Okay, I was pretty much selfish, asocial, and arrogant. Now when I'm being nice and helpful, I feel cheated. And because I'm getting lower marks than the rest, I don't feel smart anymore. This is hurting my self-confidence. I'm not feeling like studying anymore.
Comment on redhed35's post
OK, thank you for the piece of advice.
I explained my problem to a friend in civil engineering today, She suggested that I should explain the bare minimum, that I should not reveal everything, to keep a few tricks to myself. I think it's a dishonest and deceitful action. I mean, I don't care what marks my friends obtain, I'm only wondering how its possible that I'm not obtaining the marks I deserve. Why I'm obsessed with A's? Well, in my country, only students who graduate with First Class Honours can get a nice job in engineering right after university to pay back the students loans as quickly as possible.