The Plight of Former Gifted Kids

The internet is chock full of people who reminisce about their early childhood when they effortlessly earned As and exceeded academic expectations. Then they entered high school or college, and suddenly they had to work to keep their grades up. The once-easily attained 4.0 GPA slipped out of their grasp, and they may have fallen into a depression that persists to this day. I know I'm one of those people. Science was my favorite subject as a kid, but I barely passed each of my STEM courses in college. I take Prozac for depression and anxiety, and I struggle with organizational skills that came naturally to me in my youth.

I'd like to take this opportunity to share the healthy ways I've coped with being a "former gifted kid". I had some unhealthy coping methods as well, but I'll leave those out for propriety's sake.

1.) Maintain your enthusiasm.

Find something you are enthralled by, and invest some time into learning more about it. It could be something that comes easy to you, or it could be something that you just want to know more about. For me, that was the Russian language. I started college majoring in biochemistry, and ended up graduating with a major in Russian language and literature. Speaking in Russian is difficult for me, but the process alone of learning the language was, and still is, immensely satisfying.

With something you are genuinely interested in to turn to when other subjects become too difficult or time-consuming, you might end up falling into a career that you actually enjoy. I thought I wanted to be a chemist after years of the "fun" experiments: baking soda and vinegar, magnesium and fire, bromothymol blue pH tests, and so on. But I realized in college that those reactions aren't super useful in the workforce, and a career in chemistry was going to be way more boring than I thought.

I don't currently have a job related to my major, since my ultimate goal is to earn a medical degree of some sort, but my mental health stayed in much better shape because of my Russian courses than it would have if I had focused solely on the biochemistry track. I only thought about making an attempt on my life, but didn't actually carry out any attempts. That brings me to my second point.

2.) Stay optimistic.

I know it seems impossible to look at the brighter side of things when you're in a depressed state, but try to find something positive however you can. Failed a course? At least you know that particular subject isn't for you. Or, at least you can take it again. Life is full of hardships; I like to think that we have entropy to thank for that. I may not have gotten good grades, but I still took away a little bit of knowledge from my chemistry classes. See, another example of optimism.

3.) Organization is key.

I was anal-retentive as a kid and organized EVERYTHING in my life. Clothes, books, homework, shoes; you name it, it was organized. But that skill started slipping away from me in high school as I spent more and more time on homework and other priorities and less time simply maintaining order. Like I said earlier, entropy. Chaos is the natural order of the universe.

But putting in that effort to keep your things or your time organized can pay in dividends. With a clean space to think or a clear outline of your plan for the day, it becomes a lot easier to get things done. It also provides you with an easy accomplishment, and can be something to turn to when trying to stay optimistic. You may not have done any homework today, but at least you tidied up your desk. There's a Strange Planet comic by Nathan Pyle that illustrates this perfectly.

Nevertheless, that formal education assignment still needs to be completed, and that brings me to my next tip.

4.) Reward yourself.

A lack of motivation is a common symptom of former gifted kid syndrome. I've found that giving myself a reward after completing a necessary but daunting task is a great way to treat this. You could set aside some time for something fun or some self-care, or get yourself a tasty treat. I hated analytical chemistry with a burning passion, so after studying for an exam, I rewarded myself with some video game time.

However, I made the mistake of playing Stardew Valley for four to five hours after just one hour of studying, so be reasonable and diligent with how you reward yourself. Don't treat yourself to a full-on spa day if you can barely afford this month's rent, and don't chow down on a gallon of ice cream after a half-hour jog. All things in moderation. My ideal work to reward ratio is somewhere between 4:1 and 5:1. Work for an hour, play for ten to fifteen minutes, and repeat. I now make sure to set an alarm to mark the end of my playtime.

That alarm is now going off, so I will leave to let you gifted kids hopefully start getting your life back in order. You're still gifted, you just have to realize that everyone else is, too.