Managing Expectations

Marketing is about managing perceptions, finance is about managing risk, economics (to a certain extent) is about managing expectations. I need to balance my economics.

I'm done with a 3rd of the graduate program I'm enrolled for. Don't ask me what I've learnt so far, I'm quite sure I've learnt something. Every time I face an exam, however, I come out quite confident I've fooled the teachers. If they think they can trick me with their round-about questions, I have the uncanny ability to see beyond the apparent myself. Don't know why, but the scores I receive tell a different story.

The faculty operates on frequencies not in sync with mine, and it shows with all the crosses and zeroes on my graded answer sheets. Here comes the practical applicability of managing expectations. If an economy policymaker manages expectations well, inflation will never jump out of proportion. Similarly, if I manage my expectations well I won't be swayed emotionally or otherwise by the outcomes of all these evaluations I am constantly subjected to. Higher the expectations, more the fear of it not becoming reality. I've found that peace lies in not trying to convince the faculty that their thought processes are as well developed as mine, but in refusing to be judged or in creating a new dimension or calibration where I'm no less than perfect.

The question is: am I a brick in the wall that's supporting the entire structure or am I there just for the aesthetics or am I just lying outside, unused, may, in the future, be picked up as a stump for a match of street cricket?