"Exactly," he agrees pretty much immediately. "I didn't completely skip out on education after I left school; I taught myself and traveled a lot. Starfleet Academy wouldn't have taken me if I couldn't pass the entrance exams, and I wouldn't have passed three years of classes either, but some people just see the years of nothing on my transcript and assume it means I'm a washout."

"I've only had a year to start proving my promotion was not a fluke or a mistake, and I really don't know how long it's gonna take." He certainly doesn't sound defeated, though. Giving up is not in his vocabulary. And if the news want to badmouth him behind his back, fuck 'em.