Some of you are concerned that you are not the fastest in the class, perhaps you struggle to pass. Although at some point in time it needs to get easy for you, that happens at different times for different people. It doesn't have to come easily for you in order for you to turn out to be excellent in the field. Let me illustrate.

My mother has dipped chocolates every Christmas for as long as I can remember. When I married and moved from home, I could expect a large box of homemade chocolates every year. I had made candy myself, but had never really made the fondant, toffee, and other centers. After a dozen years away, we returned to Cache Valley (which is where I was raised). At that time, my free box of chocolates came to an abrupt end. My mother was sure I could dip myself. I was a new assistant professor and very busy. Chocolate dipping aways came at the busiest time of the quarter. Candy is tricky to make. You have to wash down the sides of the pan or you can turn the whole thing sugary. You have to use a heavy pan to distribute the heat evenly. You have to stir constantly or it will scortch. You can't touch your spoon to the sides or you can cause it to go sugary. You have to watch the thermometer carefully or you will over or under cook it. You can't scrape the sides of the pan into the bowl. There are lots of ways of ruining it. It can be quite frustrating.

Some years I didn't dip at all. Other years I only did a few types. As I continued to practice, I got better and better. However, the one thing I could never master was toffee. Some years I would make four batches - only to have them all turn sugary. I double checked the recipe. I washed down the sides a dozen times. I traded spoons midway. I would watch my mother make it. She did just what I did, but she didn't ever have the problem I did. Who would think you could boil something for ten minutes and still not have all the sugar dissolved? Some years Mom just made the toffee for me. Then, one day I found a different recipe for toffee. I could make it without ruining it - but I didn't like it as well. It had a new step - they combined the butter and sugar over low heat and stirred until it was all dissolved before raising the temperature. I tried the new step on the old recipe. It worked! No one else has to do that step on my recipe. It takes about ten extra minutes, but it never fails. My neighbors say the candy is good. No one knows how much I struggled to master the recipe. No one knows I do an extra step. The results are all that matters.

So it is with you. No one will know how long you struggled to master the concepts. They only care that you have it mastered.