I attended grade school beginning in 1966. I was already reading. I had some wonderful teachers that encouraged me at a time where girls should not be smarter than boys. Gifted did not exist yet - but weird did.
In junior high, ability grouping ended and I learned little during this time. This was a very difficult time for me. My father was dying and I got very little sleep. I remember being too tired to think.
My high school would be considered low performing today, but we did have honors classes. My high school years were turbulent also - my father died and my mother abandoned us. I finished high school, but spent quite a bit of time finding places for my sister and I to stay.
I totally understand the social justice. During high school, I argued to include our black athletes in our homecoming activities. With my friends, we conquered this. Yes, that is hard to believe this was happening in 1975.
I was not prepared for college and had to spend more time catching up to students from other places. I enjoyed learning and loved this part of college. I was asked to major in computer science - application programming (now called CIS). This was a new major and I was guaranteed a job. At this time, the first computer systems were being built and that was really interesting. There were no prototypes and we invented them.
Now, I am in heart failure. My meds and other issues cause me to "forget" often. I work in a tutoring lab at a college and love the people I work with. I have been an instructor, but am only teaching one basic CIS course next semester.
Sometimes, my memory is clear, but often I cannot recall facts or other processes. I know when I should know something, but I can't recall it. This is difficult for me because I have always loved intellectual pursuits and feel like a person with a low IQ. However, all my fairness and sensitivity issues are going full force. I just don't have the energy or mental capacity to do anything about it.
