I was also one of the lucky ones during elementary school, I think. I had lots of issues with talking during class and getting in trouble for it. In third grade, a teacher recognized that I was bored and recommended my mom test me for the gifted pull out one day a week. I got in, and I loved the program.
Then in fifth grade I moved to a new school that had gifted integrated as part of the curriculum. We would go to regular classes in the morning and spend every afternoon in gifted. That is also where I began to do Odyssey of the Mind.
In seventh grade, my mother had me tested for a pretty accelerated private school in the area. I received a scholarship there. While I liked the people and the teachers, once again, the work was easy. With the smaller class sizes though, the teachers were able to work with me a bit, and I never felt overly bored (that and I was allowed to read during class a lot).
I made it through high school with no study skills to speak of, and still received a 3.5 GPA. Then, I got into MIT and suddenly having no study skills was killing me. I was forced to learn the hard way during my college years, and even though I had a C when I graduated, I was proud of how much I learned.
I tend to make mild transitions in job function about every two-three years because otherwise I become bored. I do pretty well, though I still feel like I should be doing something more meaningful. I also push the schools to give my children challenging work because I feel like the school system failed me in a very fundamental way. I think gifted kids need to learn the study skills that most other children figure out in their elementary school years.
