Tell me all about it, dear...

Rosie - 2010-06-21 06:42:02
OK, I was gonna bitch you out for still being awake at this hour, but I must admit to being very struck by what you had to say tonight (or early morning your time).

I was one of the Gifted and Talented kids, and you have us described to a "T". Everything academically came far too easily, so we never learned how to work at stuff and persevere. One teacher called it "stick-to-it-tive-ness, and chided me on not possessing said trait. And by damn, he was right. I can start stuff really, really well, but sticking with it? Well, not so good.

Oh, I have managed to accomplish some things, actually see things through, but for the most part, I do have to wonder what would have happened if things hadn't been so easy. I also had a teacher who would buttonhole me in the hallway and ask me why I didn't live up to my potential.

But here's the thing. Perhaps we need every bit of our brainpower, but we aren't meant to be successful as the world defines it. Perhaps our roles this lifetime are to be something completely different, and to learn and grow spiritually, not monetarily. Besides, it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, and there are pages yet to be written.

So I'd say we need to stop chiding ourselves for "not living up to our potential" as other people think it should be, and start showing the world what our potential really is.
-------------------------------
Poolie - 2010-06-21 08:13:48
Such a poignant entry, my friend. Much coif for thought. So much, in fact, that I am hunkered down in bed typing this on a phone keypad. I cannot wait until morning. I was one of the smart kids too. School was a snap. I also had a special teacher who tried to push me to the wall. She pushed and pushed and since the school was so small, I was forced to take her classes. She is the reason I shot through college in just three years with a triple major. Magna cum laude. What a brain, eh? What did I do with this brain? I became a folksinger. I traveled around singing anywhere I could. That led to more legitimate work as an artist-in-residence. I acted. I wrote musicals. I directed theatre. I worked in a church. I taught living history on a ship. Now, I run a museum, but I still only earn about 1/3 of what my colleagues get paid. Did I waste my potential? In many ways I did. In other ways, I didn't. While many people my age go home and manage their investments, I go home and put a giant foam pirate hat on my head and interview people in my bathroom. Is there value in what I do? I honestly cannot judge that. Learning has always been fun for me. I think my "gift" is making learning and adventure fun for others. My job right now is perfect because I am in the business of experience. Come to the museum and let yourself be inspired or surprised. All I can hope for is that what I do matters. I want to be remembered like the teacher who pushed me. I want to inspire just one person. That would be success. Your entry made me think. Your entry had inspired me by bringing up my own ideas about these things. I am grateful to you. So very grateful.
-------------------------------
Poolie Again - 2010-06-21 08:17:33
Oh sad! My phone selected "coif" instead of "food" for thought. Goodness knows what else it said. I guess having a nice hairdo is also a good thing, eh?
-------------------------------
John in Phoenix - 2010-06-21 09:09:36
Wow...I always stop by to catch up on your thoughts and doing's in life, but this entry kind of makes me upset - not at you, but at myself. Like you I am terribly bright and am able to master most anything far more quickly than others, yet at the same time I have Wolf's attention span and wonderful mechanical abilities like playing the piano by ear at 5 years old and being able to tear down mechanical objects and reassembling them without a blue print...however, I find it painful to interact with people and isolate myself to the point where I can no longer socialize with people without freaking out and running to the refuge of my home office/computer/music room...Honestly -am I exhibiting Aspie-type behavior? I do ask this La as someone that trusts your opinion. I am so frustrated... John in Phoenix
-------------------------------
Stephanie - 2010-06-21 09:20:24
I've been down on myself my whole life for not "living up to my potential." I absolutely believe that my life would have been immeasurably better if I had worked to learn.
-------------------------------
gbw - 2010-06-21 12:16:37
Walking right along with you LA and those who have commented... finished fifth grade in three months and cruised through much of the rest of school... it was too easy and I was bored and didn't find or accept ways to "learn how to learn". I suppose I could have gotten degrees and joined the rat race but I never did and I am not entirely convinced that was a bad move (although there have been plenty of times I have been). I think Rosie puts it well in saying we may not be here to get rich on the material but perhaps we have another gift to offer the world or one we need to learn to accept and if not then Poolie's wish is most honorable, to have touched one life is success. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this - love ya {{hug}}
-------------------------------
Lapintornade - 2010-06-21 13:49:33
Jesus, this entry spot on in detailing my life in school. The teacher caught me in the hall and asked why I was screwing off instead of leading.
-------------------------------
Pam L - 2010-06-21 13:52:17
My oldest is the one identified as gifted whom we sent to a gifted middle school, mostly because we thought it was cool he was gifted and wanted him challenged and partly because his assigned by the district middle school was scary. His grades were up and down, he would work hard for those teachers he liked, and no one else. He started college in an engineering program and dropped out after one semester because he wanted to live out on his own, which required working , and apparently, not going to classes. He had a decent self made career but got restless and has just now graduated from the Police Academy which he put himself through as most cities don't have the budget to pay for it anymore. He graduated in the top 3 in his class with all A's. I have never sen him work so hard at anything. The kid who never had to study, studied every night, for hours, and initiated a study group with his fellow cadets. These guys are not dummies who can't work anywhere else, which gives me some hope for at least this group of future police officers. When it came time for my younger son I refused having him tested. I knew he was at least "bright", if not gifted, but had learned that being tagged gifted was not always a good thing. He has struggled with his ADHD since grade school but is now taking AP classes and his final grades in this, his Junior year of HS, were A's and B's which was very hard for him to accomplish but he did. He currently is interested in Psychology and is taking that as one of his APs next year. I'm proud of both, but they will both take completely different paths in life.
-------------------------------
beanie - 2010-06-21 15:10:55
I grew up in a town of 700.. there was no G & T program, and I slogged along in school even though I had been reading for two years before I started (and I was 5 when I started 1st grade, the youngest in the class). Homework? That never happened. I could do it at school because it was so easy. I, too, was always told about my "potential" but that just turned me off. Guess I was (am) a bit stubborn, too. The only good thing to come out of it was that I recognized the signs in Dude. He had been in advanced classes in 5K and 1st grade, until we moved to Cowtown, and then I was told they don't advance anyone until 9th grade. Even though he blew off most of high school, I made sure to tell him the mistakes I made. It seems to have worked so far! So maybe I did learn something......
-------------------------------
Jim - 2010-06-21 15:25:23
I guess I'm like a lot of your readers: I can so identify with your experiences in school (except my small neighborhood elementary school only had one class at each grade level). And your description of high school with high grades combined with non-attendance in class sounds just like my wife's description of her high school days.
-------------------------------
terri t - 2010-06-21 17:16:52
I know my IQ and I remember being told I was brilliant when I was in 2nd grade. I don't know if I lived up to my potential but I did work hard to get where I wanted to be in my career. I do believe that your "potential" is what makes you feel fulfilled...not what society says is being successful.
-------------------------------
poundheadhere - 2010-06-21 22:40:50
It's official. The landing space for brilliant students is blogs. It makes sense, really: we each come with our baggage of dispossessed personality quirks, the knowing we don't belong anywhere - and suddenly in the blogging world there are more like us. We aren't the Bill Gates or Donald Trump type. Perhaps that's because those of us who breezed through school learned early that education for education's sake is pointless. The greater challenge is the intangibles of life.
-------------------------------
herstory07 - 2010-07-05 19:21:25
Very interesting post.
-------------------------------

And you are?
One or (email):
The other (url):

Back to the entry - Diaryland