had worked harder than most: at school, over the weekends in Dad’s supermarket, and then at home. I was the ‘Pick me!’ girl who had sat close to the front of the class at school and university, who had, unprompted, done extra readings and additional exam papers, and who had studied when everyone else was partying. I had outworked my peers, so there would be no excuse but to do well. And when I had worked over the weekends, it had been with the single aim of ensur