My recent master's was the first degree I have ever been awarded a distinction for, the highest classification.
It is the first good degree of my life. The first thing about my education I have been able to feel proud of.
Better still, I came top of the department. There were only three distinctions across the whole cohort, and mine was the highest of the three.
It had not gone that way before
At secondary school I went somewhere very ordinary. Honestly, not a good school. And even there I only left with a merit.
At university I went to a private institution that cost my parents a great deal. It was not a good university either, and it later became caught up in problems over its paperwork. I graduated with a merit again.
Why this time was different
At some point I decided I would do everything I could to have one good degree in my life. Because I had never had one.
And it cost a great deal. Genuinely a great deal.
What I want to say with this
If you think your academic record has already defined you, it has not.
I went through a poor secondary school, a poor university and two merits. And still ended up with a distinction, later than most.
But I should be honest as well: it did not come free, and it cost far more than doing it well the first time would have.