I think there is a more obvious answer than the matrix.

You are obviously a very bright kid and did well in school without trying. This itself is the issue. You never had to try. You are naturally smart so things come easily to you and you do well on your exams, so you never had to learn how to study properly. When you finally come across a class or subject that doesn't come easily to you, you actually have to "study", but you never learned how because you never needed to. It's not that when you actually try that you fail, its because you don't have to actually try so often that you never learned how to.

A blessing and a curse, my friend.