This worked for me; I was near the top of my class in a large urban high school, and breezed through academically (though we did have the benefit of cross-regis

This worked for me; I was near the top of my class in a large urban high school, and breezed through academically (though we did have the benefit of cross-registering with the local university). I became a long distance runner- cross country, track. This was immensely challenging, and our team was very diverse, ethnically and academically, giving an opportunity to break out of the "smart kid bubble" that a lot of "gifted" kids live in. Then college and beer happened: I am no longer a long distance runner.