82_28 » 02 Apr 2015 06:51 wrote:I went through the same. They were really "scared of me" because I was reading at a "12th grade level" in the 1st but I refused tests and from what my mom and dad say teachers would approach them because they felt I was "smarter than them". So they singled me out and started calling me out of class. I really hated this attention because as we all know the pressure of peers at that age. I didn't feel "special" getting drawn out of class, I felt embarrassed. So all throughout my youth I crafted better and better ways to call MYSELF out of class. Ditching and acting up -- I even got expelled and flunked 8th grade! Numerous times a week counselors that I guess dealt with "gifted" kiddos would call me in and beg me to join the "group" again. My parents begged me. I was missing opportunities. I refused all authority.
Fuck no, I said. I wanted to skate and do what I wanted. Probably like all of us I am almost completely self taught. Doesn't mean anything, but class was fucking bullshit. Wound up graduating on time with, I kid you not, a SUB 0.8 GPA. My transcript was basically nothing but Fs and Ds.
However I was eager to go to college and did. 3.9 GPA without even trying -- but enjoying. Off the bat. I think this had to be before meticulous databases of students, because I would just enroll in 400 level classes and see if I could get in and I would and round up getting A's or B+s with no prerequisites. Who fucking knows. Within three years I was accepted to Hampshire, Amherst and UMASS. I never went and I am sorta glad, but who knows, again? Life and death called and I freaked out.
For the record, I feel like I am "bragging" about something, but I am not. But half of my life dealt with this as it is the truth.
You asked for experiences (and I could go on) so there's that from me!
I remember taking one of those standardized "comprehensive" tests with the rest of the school before the program started. In the first grade I was reading at a 7th grade level, and in 99th percentile for language arts. I bet that's what set it all off. And a similar authority situation applies -- my mother used to lecture me about how I didn't want to be an "egghead" and that none of the other kids would trust someone if they thought I was too smart. Even though I got in trouble, when I started smoking and skipping school, there was always a kind of subtext of approval.
The testing that I had to take thru high school always landed me in the highest "phase" classes which always annoyed me b/c my friends were all in phase 3 and I was in phase 4-5. And their classes seemed a lot more interesting. Plus, I didn't have the support at home to maintain any kind study habits. When I got home from school the only thing I wanted to do was get the hell out of the house.
I got lucky and my aunt/uncle decided to take me in in the 11th-12th grade. They made sure I did all my college entrance exams and that I got off to *a school* -- ANY school. In the time I spent with them -- swear, it was like Pygmalion -- I learned how to be "middle class" and get good grades, and skip school, and smoke pot AND not get caught. It was wonderful. I learned what they mean by "privilege" bc suddenly I could fly under the radar and was assumed to be "not a problem," instead of the opposite. It's like having a cloaking device..."oh, you're so-and-so's niece."