I can relate to studies like these in many ways. Growing up in India, I faced a hell lot of issues. At the age of 2, I was able to remember names and faces of

I can relate to studies like these in many ways. Growing up in India, I faced a hell lot of issues. At the age of 2, I was able to remember names and faces of all my relatives, at 3 I was able to read fluently. By the time I was 5, thanks to my relative I was made to repeat a grade because I was born on a certain month. By 9, I was able to do 10th grade math with ease. My mom observed this and asked the school things can be accelerated. I was placed in 10th grade and just got myself bullied. School's verdict was I was that I am socially inept and hence I must have cheated to solve 10th grade problems. School saying that broke my mom's heart, and mine. I was eternally depressed (was not aware of it though) from then onwards till college. Throughout my school life all I faced was bullying cos I don't share the same interests as the others. College wasn't any different. I grew up watching OCW physics and thought college would be similar. Turned out wrong. I have ruffled feathers with every faculty there that I wanted more work, to be challenged more. And all I got was "you should be more humble and patient. You should wait for the other students to catch up. Go with the pace, don't run, walk. blah blah" After 4 years, I came out as a person with no motivation, mentally lethargic, depressed, just wanted to coast through life. It had been hammered into me that I was the problem, not the system. Thank god I met my wife, we both were very similar and had experienced very similar situations in life. It took a long while to understand that the problem is not me. We identified as gifted children, reading up on articles, matching traits. My mom regrets that she didn't know about any of these "gifted stuff". All of us recognize the negative intentions of the people who grew up / lived with us. Both my wife and myself are trying to get back into the groove, finding ways to challenge each other, to learn to work hard, to motivate, to get back the lost years from when we could have been accelerated. Hopefully we catch up on time. I am positive that my kid will most probably be a gifted child. I will be doing everything in my power to take care of him in a proper manner. I relate to so many people in this and many other threads in HN. You all have my deepest support and sympathies for your bad experiences. Please don't let go of life. You can still be the smart person you once were. Being smart isn't being entitled, it's just who you are.