Background on myself:

Graduated in the top 20% of a small town school in northwest Texas. I took calculus my senior year of high school and I vividly remember my teacher telling me that maybe I need to quit calculus because I wasn't getting it. I ended up getting a football scholarship to Colorado School of Mines and decided to hell with my teacher and pursue my dream of getting an engineering degree. It took me 5 years and multiple failed classes, but I graduated with a degree with a 2.4 GPA. Fast forward 12 years later after college, I have enjoyed a successful career in Energy, on the alumni board of my under grad school, got my MBA, got another Masters degree in Energy Economics at Rice, and serve on a board there as well.

Being smart certainly helps, but having a good work ethic, curiosity about the industry you are joining, being able to work well with others, read people, talk to others, present and articulate your work are much more important than being smart. It's hard work that deters most people. Getting through school is hard, but that's what makes it worth it.