I joined Mensa at age 12 on a whim just to check out what it was all about. I had mostly positive experiences -- Mensa gave me a peer-group of grown-ups (mostly

I joined Mensa at age 12 on a whim just to check out what it was all about. I had mostly positive experiences -- Mensa gave me a peer-group of grown-ups (mostly professionals) from whom I learned a lot. As a kid, my development was a little out of sync with that of my peers, so I really appreciated having a venue for conversations with adults who weren't my parents. I think I grew up faster that way because Mensa folks interacted with me as though I was an adult (even though I wasn't yet) -- no one talked down to me. Folks also really took care of me (paid for my meals, gave me rides home because they knew I had to take 2 buses to get to the restaurants we usually met in). We had a lot of fun eating out together and talking about life. There was also the monthly national newsletter, in which members wrote in about their varied interests, from computers to chess to philosophy (this back in the early 90s when the Internet wasn't yet a thing). So many of my interests of that era came about from learning about new stuff through the newsletter. I remember having great fun corresponding via snail mail with people of like mind. I can't vouch for the experience in every Mensa chapter (I have been in meetings which were full of hyper-rationalist types who were low in emotional intelligence), but the chapter I was part of during my formative years really left a mark on me. (in a good way)