Advice for all my other “gifted student syndrome” sufferers :)
You can’t just go from struggling back to gifted-student mode overnight. I struggled very much the past spring semester, and when I got my grades back I was disgusted by my performance in one of my classes. I wrote myself a whole impassioned self-contract (good) and included a whole bunch of the “rules” I used to follow back when I was lauded as a powerhouse student in high school (bad).
If you have been struggling, for whatever reason, to even get through your assignments, you can’t go from that to studying in three hour blocks just because you got a surge of motivation. If you’ve gotten motivated/worked through something, great! But don’t expect to get right back into your super-student mode with ease.
Work your way up. Start with something small, like skimming the readings again right before you go into the class, and work your way up to rewriting your note sheets, and then writing extra essays for practice. (Or whatever you do to go above and beyond academically).
The point is, after struggling with your studies (and therefore your identity and self-worth), you may get a sudden, almost manic desire to go and be an absolutely astounding student. It’s fun to ride that wave, but I often end up getting burnt out again. Work your way back up to academic rigor.
