This is really personal for me. As a kid, I was part of a "gifted and talented" program at my public elementary school, where I got to go to a different classr

This is really personal for me. As a kid, I was part of a "gifted and talented" program at my public elementary school, where I got to go to a different classroom for half a day once a week. It was the first time in my life I'd been challenged mentally. Before that class, I didn't know how to do anything but survive. That early exposure to science and math gave me a real outlet for individual learning and achievement, something no adult in my life at the time was capable of offering me. The driven curious person I aspire to be today was born in that classroom. My early childhood was not a nice time. In retrospect, that half day a week was the single solitary positive influence in my life. For years, it was the only thing I had to look forward to. I remember being sad when school was over for the summer, because it meant I didn't get to do it for awhile. It genuinely scares me to think about what my life might be like if I hadn't had that one thing.