Weapons down

So, the verdict is in. All my grades have been returned. Of the seven classes I took this semester, I did better in some, what I expected in others and worse than in expected in one (really, apparently I CANNOT deal with people). Overall, I'm very happy with my performance, which leads me to wonder how things would have gone in college if I had "applied" myself better the first two years. Oh, well, I'll guess we'll never know.

One other thing that has resulted from my current academic performance is the grumblings of me being a gunner. I had a vague idea of what this was (it's not a good thing), but I still had to look it up online. So, courtesy of Wikipedia, here is the definition of an academic gunner:

• In The United States a "gunner" is an overly competitive student, typically in law school or medical school. Calling someone a gunner is usually highly offensive. A gunner is also overly ambitious and often excitedly volunteers oral answers in class that are, by turns, incorrect, off-topic, or specifically designed to demonstrate the questionable "intellectual" prowess of the person supplying them. These questions are often prefaced with phrases like "A cursory literature search revealed . . . " A gunner will compromise his or her peer relationships in order to obtain recognition and praise from his or her instructors and superiors, often by directly harming or attempting to harm the academic well-being of said peers.

As soon as I saw the definition, I knew this wasn't me. Considering I rarely talk in class, it's pretty obvious I can't be called a gunner. But when I made this argument to some of my section-mates, one of them agreed, but then called me a sniper. Really? How is that any better?