<p>I had to take a huge battery of tests to get into some summer program when I was 6 or something. (Yeah, Asian parents.) I got in, so I guess I count as gifted…my IQ is at the 99th percentile, for what it’s worth. We didn’t have a G&T program at school, though. Two years ago they tried to pilot one, but they decided that it was too discriminatory and went against the ethos of our school system. I don’t really like that, since they give a lot of help to people with learning disabilities, but people who might get bored with the material are just kind of left to rot.</p>
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<p>Yeeeah…I used to think I was really smart, but at the same time I didn’t want anyone to know it. I felt sorry for everyone else, which was kind of a disgusting attitude to take. After I got to secondary school I realized that I’m not as smart as a lot of other people, but I think I have better social skills for it.</p>
<p>During my very early education, I didn’t have the signs of being “gifted” like someone, perhaps even, my brother.
When he was a baby both my parents worked and my maternal grandparents looked after him. He was pretty timid but they adored him (as most Asian elders think quiet well behaved children are best) and also because he was smart, he knew the alphabet (remember, my home country’s native language is not English) and could read when he was two or three.
In my case, I loved others reading to me and stories in general and had reading classes/lessons for a month before learning how to read as when my mother tried to teach me I got frustrated. But I became a good reader quickly as I read books everyday to my dolls while playing teachers.
When I was younger I didn’t do any study for the tests we had at school and to most teachers I appeared to be talentless, this too, was unlike my brother who was in the student council and got the majority of the class awards.
But when I became more aware of my academics and performance at school (around the age of nine or ten), I was above average for two reasons; I often heard my mom teach/correct my brother with his homework esp in math, and I read a lot so was good at languages, general knowledge and history.
At school I am in GATE which is Gifted And Talented Education. The GATE coordinating teacher knows me for being a passionate creative writer, and loving philosophical workshops and discussions. I also take advanced math which isn’t much surprise seeing 2/3 of the class is Asian (c’mon we all know Asian parents push us and make us go to tutoring… which I personality don’t do).</p>
<p>^ You raise an interesting point about tutoring.</p>
<p>I was in the IB Further Math class for about a month before I dropped out. The teacher spent one lesson going over logs because 7 out of the 9 people in the class had already learned all the material from their tutors. Out of the two of us without tutors, one is a highly motivated math student who still studies it like crazy at home. The other one…is me. I just dropped out of the class because I couldn’t handle it at all. I find it kind of ridiculous that there’s a class where the teacher expects you to have a tutor. You go to school to learn. If you have a crap teacher, then maybe you get tuition. But if your teacher is fine (which this teacher is- he’s the head of math and that’s why he’s teaching Further), tuition doesn’t really help that much. In the end, everyone reaches the same place at the same time. And what do you do when you get to college?</p>
<p>In elementary school if an Asian student said that they knew what the teacher was going to do with the class this lesson, the teachers would just be like, “Oh… you have a tutor. Well we have to go over this anyway.”
But then when I was twelve, my advanced math class teacher asked (when it was just Asian students in the classroom for approx five minutes), “So, do some of you girls have tutors? Do you go to tutoring?”
My former best friend who is Korean said no, well she obviously doesn’t (even though she is now probably the best mathematician in our grade) because her dad is a tutor person.
The other girl who’s Japanese said no, but she’s really rich and has a tutor for all her subjects. She sleeps in class mostly because she stayed up at night though, and has issues with speaking in front of the class (she’s not a great student).
For me, my brother is supposed to help me since he’s one of the best mathematicians for his age in the country, did calculus two years earlier than expected, and was in the national math olympiad squad last year. But that doesn’t happen in reality and I do nothing outside of class (except homework and studying a bit before the test), but I actually do better than the ones who have tutors and totally chat/snooze through class.</p>
<p>This is basically the story of my life. When I was young - before I knew to just keep my mouth shut - I would correct teachers and help teach other students when the teacher was unclear, but of course this ****ed the teachers off. I would finish an hour’s work in ten or fifteen minutes, but since I wasn’t allowed to read or do anything but “keep checking my work” (it must have been wrong, since I finished so quickly), I just got really bored. I had a really great time in middle school, but high school was a disaster.</p>
<p>Whenever I finished a test early, I would sit there for like 10 mins and wait for other people to get up first. I’m in High School and still do that.</p>
<p>I believe that everyone is gifted(yes, I am very naive and optimistic about the world).
In common standard of “Gifted”, I have never been identified as a genius since I’ve never taken IQ test. However, I am probably one of the most talented student in math/science in school(16/42 USAMO this year), but I practically fail at everything else, especially Spanish and love :(.</p>
<p>I was gifted in elementary and middle school, now that I’m in high school, where it actually counts for something (gifted kids have it on their transcript, have specialized education plans, special counselor, seminar classes that are way cool, first choice in virtual high school classes, special study hall, lots of free period passes, all the teachers love them just because) I’m not. And everybody’s shocked that I’m not - everybody I talk to, when I have an issue or want a free period or something, they’re like, just go to Mr. Gifted Teacher. And I tell them, but I’m not gifted. And their jaws drop. I have some sort of rep as a grade-intense, mature-thinking, has-to-be-gifted smartass, so nobody (including myself) understands why I’m suddenly not. I’m not really sure what my IQ ever was (supposedly it’s somewhere around 120, but that was only an IQ predictor attached to a state test in like 1st grade, so it’s not really that) so I don’t even know what the basis for my previous gifted years was. My school puts some really stupid, unmotivated, and could-care-less kids in the gifted program - why not me anymore?</p>
<p>I think I was identified as “gifted” in elementary school, but nothing really came out of that. My school district doesn’t really have much of a gifted/talented program at any level.</p>
<p>Bleh. Me. Did both Kindergarten/1st grade in the same year so I was bumped up a grade or two. Did IB. Dropped out of IB. Life goes on. I am a lowly 95/96%-ile on standardized exams (IQ test included) :rolleyes:
In reading the other posts…
My strong point is english, though I am proficient in math and I really enjoy/have a strong aptitude for science.
I don’t fail in love. I have a boyfriend (was also in gifted in middle school…or something).
I have a few friends but not many (I get along with other “gifted” kids better though, I find…same odd sense of humor I guess…)
Mm. That’s it.</p>
<p>Does being “gifted” actually matter?
If you have passion and enthusiasm for something and you persist, then I don’t see how not beeing naturally gifted initially should stop you.</p>
<p>^ It does and doesn’t matter. A person with an average aptitude might find it difficult to keep up in a rigorous field such as physics despite all the passion in the world for said subject. (Keep in mind that aptitude testing is an imperfect science at best, but I still hold to my conjecture)
In terms of living every day lives (becoming a professional such as a lawyer, doctor, accountant, etc.) I don’t think it really matters much. Once a person becomes educated in whatever field he chooses, it’s up to how well he performs the job.</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely agree with Vertigo. Being ‘gifted’ and therefore feeling like you don’t have to work hard won’t get you anywhere, because there’s a point to which everyone else will catch up. However, being of average intelligence and having a great work ethic means you have better habits, but a lot more effort is expended in the process. In the end, I just suppose it depends on what kind of field it applies to. I can think of a lot of examples in sports and music where people are simply trained to do something, whether they’re gifted at it or not, but I’m not going to elaborate right now because I’m supposed to be working.</p>
<p>Apparently in my elementary school there was this gifted program (which I was a part of) but now that I think of it (and especially seeing the loads of brilliant smart kids out there), I’m really not “gifted”. I think my procrastination sorta interferes with my abilities to do well but simply put, I wasn’t born with intelligence, I accumulated it :]</p>
<p>I’ve been “gifted” since first grade. I could read chapter books, print my name pretty well, and multiply numbers. Oh, and I tested at 99 percentile in everything. So, in elementary school I got bused to a different school one day a week to do “gifted” things. More creative projects, no busy work & stupid spelling worksheets, building things and hands-on type stuff, field trips, etc. We got IEP’s and had formalized goals and were expected to actually work on stuff. In middle school, gifted program was just a class during the day in place of communications (basically a 2nd english class) and was pretty much pointless. Most of the students were smarter than our teacher and used the time to mess around on the extra computers we got to have in our classroom. But you could actually do productive stuff like creative projects and all that if you were motivated enough. Goals turned into “computer skills” and “creativity” instead of “must complete 50 problems solving problems, including at least 10 Thinklabs” High school gifted program has ALMOST been a waste of time. 9th grade we could independently study computers & health during one semester instead of having to waste a whole year in those classes (and get 1.5 units of credit in one semester: health, computers, and gifted) 10th&11th grade you got to do test prep b/c my school doesn’t have a special test prep class for non-gifted/talented people. 12th grade you get time during the school day to apply to college & you get a teacher yelling at you if you don’t work on college stuff. Goals included “study skillls” meaning you got to work on homework during gifted class “ACT/SAT test preparation” and “applying to college” in high school. </p>
<p>Overall, I think the gifted program has kept me from burning out before college. Instead of having a nervous breakdown last fall when I was applying to college, I had extra time during the school day to work on applications and essays. I was a really stressed out person in middle school, and the gifted program let me have time to realize what I really wanted and all that cheesy stuff. I would say that the gifted program has kept me (relatively) sane. I know some gifted kids think the entire program’s a waste of time, but I think it’s definitely made me a better person. But, I do know a lot of gifted kids in HS who probably shouldn’t be in the gifted program and a lot of non-gifted kids who should be considered gifted. So, a gift and a curse?</p>