Your gifted acquaintances, what happened to them during and after their university days?

Question

For the people who went through TAG/GATE programs and those who knew them, did the gifted participants achieve remarkable feats more often then the average joe once their high school days were finished.

I met some who couldn't complete college for whatever reason (I think they were too smart to deal w/ scheduled learning they could prob. learn on their own) as well as the book smart people who lacked enough common sense to make it in the "real" world.

just wondering what happened to the gifted people you knew.

Answer 1

I was "gifted" in high school and grade school, but had a really tough time in college. I went from straight As in high school to a 2.3 GPA in college. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that I never really learned how to study in school because I just got everything right off the bat. I didn't have to try AT ALL in H.S. and spent most off my time getting high and goofing off. I was so much smarter than everyone almost my whole life and I guess you could say I was like a big fish in a small pond. When I got to college, I just assumed I could slide through there just like I did in H.S. and I didn't study and didn't even go to class most of the time and ended up on academic probation. Even after I realized how hard it was, I didn't give it much effort because I was busy working as a statistical analyst. I mean, I could just go to class and read the text once and still pass, meanwhile classmates who got the same grade as me on a test had to stay up all night studying. I could have don't a lot better if I gave it the effort, but I didn't. Being labeled as gifted kinda messed me up in the fact that I never really learned how to study.

Answer 2

The most gifted person I went to school with ended up doing really well in Silicone Valley. Eventually he ended up in a band & the drug scene - he's not doing that great these days.