I'm reading Only Hope, Vanessa L. Fong's study of teenagers growing up under China's one-child policy. The kids there have CRAZY amounts of pressure on them. The poorest parents will go without food to buy their kid textbooks - their entire livelihood is poured into and depends on their child's success in school. If the child recognizes this, they spend every waking hour studying.

I often think about how much money my education costs, and what sacrifices my parents must make to provide for it. I study a lot now because I'm very interested in the content, but there have been times when I did the bare minimum to get a good grade. I'm an asshole for doing that, and I hope I never do it again.