Comment by afpx

Wow. I didn’t expect so much response.

A little late now, but I wanted to clarify my thoughts. Being “Gifted” is far from enough. My three siblings were also considered gifted, but they didn’t do as well. My two sisters were impregnated in their teens which limited their opportunities. My brother ended up enlisting and is now a disabled veteran (and active conspiracy theorist). Of my gifted class, I believe at least 40% didn’t graduate. The ones that did well were the ones you’d expect to do well: children of lawyers, doctors, etc.

I think other factors were as important to me: curiosity, academic motivation, self-image. When I was young my aunts would tell me, “you look like you’re going to be successful some day.” And, that kind of became a prophecy to me.