pensversusswords:

You know what I want? More content where younger Tony actually goes to his classes, engages with professors and pays attention during lectures. Yes, Tony is a super genius and I’m sure that there are plenty of times when he zones out because he understands things so damn quickly, but I feel like sometimes we forget how thirsty for knowledge Tony is. He skipped a bunch of grades, went to MIT when he was incredibly young… he must have reached a level where he was at least semi challenged by his classes. I mean, being a genius doesn’t mean that he came preprogrammed with all the information he would ever need. 

I want to see Tony meeting his profs at MIT, admiring them and being genuinely excited to learn from them. They are geniuses themselves, and have been in the field decades longer than Tony has even been alive. I want them to see the potential in Tony and pushing him by giving this mouthy, rich 16 year old hard questions and helping him figure them out. I want to see Tony cultivating his genius while also learning how to problem solve when he gets to a problem he can’t figure out right away. I want to see Tony stumped, having to go to his professors and ask them questions because hey, he’s a genius, but it never hurts to get a second opinion. I want Tony learning that his intelligence is a tool that he has to learn how to use properly, and that he didn’t come equipped with all of the answers to everything. Maybe it takes a little while for him to adjust to not being the person with the most knowledge in the room, but it quickly becomes his goal to absorb all of the knowledge that he can from everyone he meets. I want Tony who just loves learning, and yeah, sometimes he’ll meet an asshole who he knows he’s smarter than, and he gets a kick out of showing them up… but ultimately he has respect for other academics, and once he’s in a university setting, he starts to learn that he can benefit so much from all of the great minds around him. 

Tony being a total nerd, sitting near the front during every lecture and committing every word the prof has to say to his memory. Yeah, he read the whole textbook in a few nights, but listening to lectures helps give him perspectives on things that he can’t get out of a book. He learns by putting up his hand and asks questions. He probably voluntarily asks for more extra and more challenging assignments… not for extra credit, just for fun. 

Yes, Tony is a genius, and he blows his professors away when he sits down with a problem and refuses to stop trying until he figures it out (and then he figures it out in record time), or when he points out flaws in their research, or helps them work out the kinks in a problem they’ve been working on for years. He’s amazing. His brain astounds everyone. He can easily keep up with profs who have been experts for 30+ years. He runs circles around the other students without breaking a sweat. Even so, he’s there to learn… he does it with gusto and gets straight A+’s, but it’s not without any effort on his part.

Like, it’s totally understandable that we all fall into the “Tony gets bored and skips all his classes because they’re too easy” trope… but I’d love to see Tony facing some intellectual roadblocks, and having to fight his way through them. I just really want to see more of Tony approaching the learning process head on and absolutely decimating it, but not without having to stop at a few detours along the way. His genius is a gift and he is smart to the point where it astounds people who have been called geniuses their whole lives, but his drive and desire for knowledge give him the momentum to actually put that natural genius to use. In the end, that’s really his key to success.