Character

I've been having exams, that's why I haven't been updating. I'm not even done with them, round 2 is next week, I just need a time-out.

I heard a theory today from a known youtube fitness vlogger. He said that it isn't what you've achieved that defines you, but what you had to go through to achieve it. So if it feels like you're working harder than everyone else, but not achieving as much, you shouldn't fret because it'll shape your character and help you develop the means of getting further in life.
I really agree, but I wonder if I could take his reasoning one step further.
Sometimes, I feel like people can't understand me because they haven't worked as hard as I have to get where they are now. This can really lead to me feeling like they don't understand me and that we don't have enough in common to even be friends. I wonder if it's like that for most people, that you can only feel understood for people who have struggled as much as you have, even if one of you haven't gotten as far as the other.

Another thing I was wondering today was whether the ability to address someone's question directly is associated with intelligence. I read a book where the characters which have a limited ability to express themselves, which intends to show how they're less educated, and this means that when they converse they never directly address what the other person just said. I know some book-smart people who hardly ever know what anyone is talking about, while I have other less academically gifted friends who give a much more intelligent impression. I definitely think that we need to revise testing methods when it comes to intelligence and capability, because the people who do the best on tests aren't necessarily the people who'd be the best doctors or lawyers or even scientists... and they are definitely not those that become the best teachers.