I don't really think you or Terry knows what hard work even looks like. We hold this conversation about personal advancement from positions of extreme privilege while billions live without running water. If you want to limit your view to only those of us with access to all the delights of modern society (and none of its externalities) I'm sure you can find plenty of evidence for the meritocracy.
You can personally thank my grandparents, all four laying dead in their graves before the age of 60, for your opportunity to "work hard" in America.
Is this supposed to be a tale of overcoming adversity, almost failing some exam? The stakes are so low I can barely identify the conflict in the story. Actually failing something of actual importance and then overcoming the odds to succeed anyway would be a little less boring.
He sounds like he's lived his entire life in a university basement and mistook the petty challenges of academia for real life.
It's also a lot easier to work hard when you are handed access to every academic resource on the planet before you hit puberty. His life story is the most blatant counterexample to this article imaginable. Sounds like a case of deep denial.
You can personally thank my grandparents, all four laying dead in their graves before the age of 60, for your opportunity to "work hard" in America.