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Original post by bgilb
From my toddler days I have memories of 3rd grade and constantly staring out the window. I really had a problem with attention. Nothing inside the classroom could keep my interest long enough. I wanted to be outside. I wanted to learn hands on. I wanted to build things. But this isn't want the teachers wanted from me, they wanted me to conform. One teacher resorted to putting me in the corner, away from all the other students. I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone for half the year. It was horrible. It seemed like no one knew how to handle me, that I was this burden that no one could take care of. They made the decision to do whatever was necessary to make me act normal. It's funny because today I know what they did was wrong. But back then, they made me feel like what I was doing was wrong. I was a kid, I didn't know better.
It is well-known that public school systems are exceptionally poor at handling students who don't fit into the expected moral and academic profile of an
nth grader, for various values of
n. You are
not the only one who did not receive education well-suited to your needs.
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When I was around ten my family acquired a piano. Though it was mostly just for show. Anyways, I took a keen interest in the piano over everyone else. With what little books and information we had I tried my hardest to learn what I could. I thought maybe if I impressed somebody that they would find someone that could teach more, or at least notice me. I showed my Dad what I had learned, absolutely no interest from him. My Mom said she would try to get me piano lessons, but of course that never happened.
Not everybody got everything they asked for from their parents when they were kids. Have you thought about those kids who didn't even have pianos?
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I tried so many things. When I was thirteen I tried to build a telescope completely on my own. I tried to learn guitar completely on my own. I tried to learn to program video games. They all failed. I had no one to guide me, I didn't have the abilities to learn on my own. There's so many stories just like this from my younger days. Eventually I reached seventeen or eighteen. This was a breakthrough age for me, because I no longer needed help from anyone else to learn anything. All in a span of one or two years I learned guitar, programming, astronomy, etc.
The content of this paragraph is that you weren't a prodigy who learned programming, astronomy, and music (both guitar and piano) before becoming a teenager.
Don't worry about it. It absolutely does not matter in any way. Having had prodigious abilities as a child is not a prerequisite for any job or profession on the entire planet.
The lesson to be learned here is to never idolize prodigies or prodigious ability. You will only end up depressed, unproductive, and wasteful of the natural talent you do have.
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But I feel its too late. I'm too old now. I feel like the talent is wasted. The extreme creativity that was once there is now just mild. My inner soul destroyed by the society around me.
Even the most remarkable prodigies generally do not produce anything worthwhile while very young. Your talent was absolutely not wasted. You have it all backwards. It's as if you expected that you would have your career behind you by the time you reached college. [smile] Now that you are 22,
this is the time to use your talent, not ten years ago when you were supposed to be out playing on the playground with friends.
I present to you
proof that it's never late to pursue anything. See also
this thread.
Now go out and use your talent like you should be doing!
