Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Wasted Time

I'm so tired, so tired of being dismissed saying I'm not ready or I'm not mature enough to be studying at a college. I'm sick of having to degrade my intelligence every single day and it makes me so sad that I can understand in my mind what I want but no one else can. I know in my mind how to articulate it to them but when I try to tell them no one gets it. I've known what I've wanted to do since I was in 7th grade. I know where I need to be and it finally hit me last year how much of my life I was wasting.

It's so upsetting for me to be forced to reducing my intelligence to spending 50 minutes on a front and back fill in the blanks. I want to get away from it, I want to be studying psychology and how the mind works. I can't take it anymore, I'm sick of dealing with people who can't comprehend the most simple concepts. You waste 4 years of your life in high school and for what? To be taught useless concepts that have close to nothing to do with everyday life. Oh you need to learn to write essays in college, then teach them how to write essays. Not me, I understand how to write an essay, someone teach me how to do math that I need for psychology and forensics.Why? Because I have a sinking feeling that I won't need to find the Area of a Rectangle, or the circumfrance of a circle. I can't do a thing about it either, I can't take it.

For some reason can't get any of the adults to understand how much pain it's causing me. I haven't been able to find motivation in any of the school work because I feel so powerless. If anyone can help me find a way to get them to understand, or if anyone feels the same as me please respond. Thank you.

The point of high school is to get a college scholarship so that college is free. Also, you want to collect as many small scholarships as possible so that you ideally get paid to go to college.

Of course, it would help if you would explain how old you are and whether you are in high school.

If you are gifted, bored, and want to study psychology and forensics now, the Duke TIP offers Summer Studies courses covering both of these topics.

Financial aid is available. Qualifying is as simple as taking the SAT or ACT and getting scores in the right range.

The purpose of high school is not to prepare you for a specific role in life... that's what college is for. High school is to prepare you for college, and also provide those basic skills everyone should have.

I find calculating area to be very useful in everyday life. Knowing the combined area of my lawns helps me purchase the right amount of fertilizer or insecticides. My wife has taken up the hobby of making clothes, and calculating area helps her buy the right amount of fabric.

I also find myself infrequently calculating the volume of a cylinder, because I can never remember the capacity of my above-ground pool, and this bit of information was critical when I needed to buy a new pump. It also helps me figure out how much chlorine/acid/algaecide to add.

Bottom line: just because a skill doesn't have immediately-obvious uses doesn't mean it won't be useful.

I remember when I was growing up how often people liked to say, "You'll never use algebra after high school." I'm using it right now.

The purpose of college these days is to render you employable. As the student, you want to minimize debt. It's the new high school.

Lots of people have no idea what to go do with themselves in college, but you have to major in *something* to graduate.

Given the annual double-digit inflation of college costs and prolonged stagnation of wages, I expect we're quickly approaching a tipping point at which the cost of a college education exceeds its benefits. It's at this point where we need to find other ways to educate a workforce.

Which is why I said the (economic) point of high school is to get a scholarship so that college is free (assuming that the OP was intelligent enough to do this).

Also, the (economic) benefit of college (to most people), at this point, is to provide a signaling device to employers that the potential employee, is, in fact, employable.

However, in the case of OP, OP is going to need a Psy.D. or a Ph.D., so I would also recommend trying to get through college in three years so as to save 12 months of OP's life. The point of college, in the case of OP being to get into an appropriate graduate school in psychology.

Curious but which adults? Teachers/Guidance counselor/parents?

Most schools districts have test out options. Teachers unfortunately like to see actual progress not just potential before they recommend advancement/testing out. You have to show them something in the way of results so you need to learn to play the game.

For example, if you feel you know geometry, they should have a test you can take to show proficiency. Back in the day, geometry taught structured logic as well as just how to calculate area, etc. The two subjects of interest could potentially require probability/statistics and higher level physics/chemistry. These can require some amount of calculus. Unfortunately, there is a progression to get to those classes.

Instead of thinking what is wrong with everything, try to find something positive that can make a difference. Ask the district how to test out of subjects. Maybe they have dual enrollment with a jr. college. Take the SATs, get a GED and just go to college? I think it is MIT that has some advanced courses that you can take online (not for credit but for intellectual stimulation). There are many options.

I expect an attorney to be more careful to avoid stating his opinions as facts. Sure, for many college students, the main purpose of college is to get a better job than they would otherwise, but there are people who attend college out of intellectual curiosity, and some of their parents will be found on a gifted forum. A person whose only question about every college class is "how will this get me a job" will learn less -- and perhaps in the future earn less -- than someone who has a respect for learning and is willing to learn things with no immediate application.

Amen to that. As someone with a bachelor's in Psych, I vote that it's about the most worthless 4-year degree for employability.



Haven't met many attorneys, have you?