The teacher who wouldn’t let you coast was paying you a compliment you couldn’t hear yet.

Letting somebody get by is easier, and most people do it, because pushing costs energy and buys resentment. Being held to something higher than you wanted usually means somebody looked and decided you were capable of it. At the time it registers as unfairness. The judgment underneath was generous, and it only becomes readable later.

Notice who around you refuses to accept your easy version of things. That person is worth keeping near, however irritating it is in the moment. If you can, tell an old teacher what their insistence turned into, because almost nobody ever does.