A social media teacher made a video explaining the slang term boffin based on her own experience. Well, that reminded me of my younger days back at school. I think when I was thirteen, I started to be considered as a boffin. My parents were all about the grades, and they really wanted me to do well at school. As per their expectations, I always got excellent grades in my exams. However, I realized I was subject to the term boffin. I didn’t have friends, my classmates stayed away from me intentionally, can you picture it? I used to try to approach them, played up to them, but they brushed me off most of the time. They even made fun of me and talked behind my back. I just felt like I was an outsider, at first, I felt othered, and then lonely. At the end, it was kind of overwhelming. Now, I still have memories that I stayed far away from my classmates after school, hanging out alone quite a while in wild areas. My parents might have been aware that I was unhappy, but they kept telling me that good grades would open opportunities for me to get into a well known university, and then I would do well in my career and life. To some extent this is true. In my country, graduating from a highly-rated university means a decent job or high salary. But I disappointed them somewhat, I didn’t keep up the good grades and went to an ordinary college ultimately. The experience to me is funny but bitter.