19 Adults Who Were “Gifted Kids” Are Revealing How “Accelerated” Programs Impacted Them In The Long Haul

7.

“Oooof. I was a high-achieving perfectionist child because my home life was trash. I was actively being traumatized at home, and the only way I knew how to cope was to do exceptionally well at school. This came with very little effort on my end. I was naturally good at test-taking. Then I got to college and realized I never learned how to study, realized that my parents abused me, realized I had no coping skills for my emotions, and I started drinking heavily. I drank 5-6 days a week, barely went to class, and still got a 3.3 GPA. After college, I went into sales because it was a natural fit for my personality, and it worked out.”

“All that to say, even ‘naturally gifted’ kids have issues. I was just lucky that my issues are rewarded by society.”

—stimulants_and_yoga