Chapter 12: Forging Ahead in the Midst of Challenges

I was in the third grade when I was given an exam that changed my life. I must have performed well because, the next year, I was in the academically talented and gifted class where I would remain for the next three years. I had heard about the class before—I even knew people who were in the class, but never really imagined that I would one day be in the class. I thought I was a good student, but was I good enough?

Everyone in the class was “smart.” Why would I stand out? What would make me as special as I had been in other classes? As time progressed, I became lost in the class and felt as if everyone expected me to know how to do everything. Even when I was uncertain, I would never admit this was the case. I was expected to just do and while I did, it was certainly not close to what I should have been doing. As a result, my skills were not developing as strongly as they should. Could it have been that I really did not belong in the class? Were they mistaken about me? Self-doubt set in and I became the little fish in a big pond, as the saying goes.