Yes, this. I knew how to do derivatives in 8th grade, came to the US in 10th grade and took AP Calculus because I was more than ready for it. I took differentia

Yes, this. I knew how to do derivatives in 8th grade, came to the US in 10th grade and took AP Calculus because I was more than ready for it. I took differential equations at a community college in 11th grade, multivariable calculus in 12th. Some school admins went nuts about letting a student take calculus in 10th grade because they didn't think it was doable. But I tested out of everything else. I was the first person in the history of the school to do this, only because I came from internationally having completed a trig course in 9th grade. In the US they wouldn't have allowed that in the first place, but here I was, having already done it, because I was given the opportunity outside the US. I never saw myself having any special learning abilities, I was just moving onto the next thing to learn. I'm not any sort of prodigy, I just hated team sports and liked science and math, and spent lots of my extracurricular time learning about it.* I only moved faster in math because I put so many hours into studying it outside of school, not because I had any innate talent for it. It also made it more fun, because by learning ahead of class, I was learning for myself with much less pressure than learning for some stupid exam. This "no child left behind" stuff is pure nonsense in the way they are implementing it. *You see, I was previously growing up in Asia, where STEM is what the "cool kids" do.