According to my parents, my explicit job as a child was to do good in school. Doing good in school meant getting good grades. One time, when I expressed complacency with getting a C, my mother chastised me for just trying to get by and doing the bare minimum. She compelled me to aspire for better, to aim for being and doing the best that I could. Work hard. Don't be mediocre. An overachiever was born.
Unfortunately, getting good grades and achievement didn’t mean developing good character or even learning for that matter. I did what was necessary to get the A or B. For me, that became cramming information in my head at the last minute for the duration necessary for the particular test or assignment. After that, the information was not well retained.
It wasn't until college that I realized, I hadn't learned much of anything throughout my schooling except how to get good grades. I'm a high functioning procrastinator and pretty decent crammer.