Yes, I was. And I feel like I'm currently living a parallel life with my DD6. However, we've got some very good plans in place at the public school for DD. For me though, I went to private grade school and HS. Everyone knew of me as the smart kid. I never ever ever studied or was challenged in anything through the 12th grade. Even my AP Classes - I never studied for them. I felt like I didn't belong and never really had an identity.
Then I went off to a Big Ten school for Engineering and fell hard. My first few years there were extremely difficult -- I was that textbook GT kid who was never challenged and didn't know how to study. It took me until my senior year in College to figure it out.
Then, right after college, I moved to to the East coast for my job. The region we lived in felt the opposite of a "brain drain." It seems that all the smart people are there. I felt like I belonged, had mentors and knew where I was going. I didn't realize at the time it was because I was with my "intellectual peers." I thought it was just because we were all "mature adults."
Well I was wrong. I moved back to the Midwest a little over a year ago and it sucks. I hate it here. I had a job for a while and I felt like everyone I worked with were idiots. I found myself back in that same place as I felt in grade school and high school. I was miserable and and at the same time felt like a pompous jerk for having that attitude toward my coworkers.
For now, I quit my job and have decided to return to grad school.
Does the "problem" of being a gifted child ever end?
