Agreed about all of that except the 1st part. My “A”s” were mostly a lot of hard work, as in, working harder than most of my friends who were just as smart, but got B’s. I’ve seen the same in a lot of my relative’s children, too.
Granted, I’ve also known fellow students who could get A’s “easily”, but they were the true exceptions.
Yeah, I guess I was only thinking of my own experience. Point taken.