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Last update: 
March 14th 2003
© LaPetitePrincesse

If you want to know whether you're gifted or not, you first have to visit a psychologist and make an IQ-Test. An IQ higher than 130 means you're well-gifted (European scale). It is estimated that about 2% of the German population (80,000,000) are highly-talented. Less than 1% have an IQ higher than 137. Many people (especially many pupils) think you are highly-talented when you are very good at school - when you only get 1s and 2s (America/ Britain: As/Bs). This thought is totally wrong. Lessons are often very boring for highly-talented pupils (things are always repeated), consequently they do not raise their hand which means they get a bad oral mark. 
Here in Germany it is very important to "take part" in the lessons - up to 10th grade, there are subjects in which the mark on the report is made of 70% of the oral mark and 30% of the written test (geography, politics, history..). Besides, tests are far too easy for them as in many subjects you only have to learn things by heart. 
But on the other hand, when lessons are boring, many pupils do not listen any more, they do not learn anything and they are not able to write tests. As I am concerned - I try to listen to the teacher although this is often difficult. I get very tired at school when Im not challenged, however my oral marks are still good. 

The bad thing about marks is that you have to get good marks if you want to study a special subject. For instance, the university in Heidelberg only offers about 40 places for the subject "Molecular Biotechnology" - the subject I want to study. Last year 380 pupils applied for it. Consequently, they only take the pupils who have a very good average in their Abitur. Finding friends is often very difficult for the highly-talented. Firstly they are often faced with prejudices. For instance, after having skipped a grade many pupils asked me whether I learnt the whole day. This is, of course, a wrong thought, too. Many pupils think you get good marks when you learn a lot. Yet the highly-talented nearly do not need to learn. We keep the things the teacher says in mind and that's it. There is nearly no learning for tests. But as many of you probably know many youngsters do not want to get good marks for they think it is uncool. Some of us therefore try to get bad marks while others still get good marks. 
Secondly the highly-talented are often interested in adult topics like politics, philosophy, religion, etc. Conversations with youngsters at the same age are therefore often boring. Besides, as I am concerned, I think I do not behave like youngsters at my age. I find their behaviour strange, childish and it is often getting on my nerves. I prefer being with adults. 
Another thing is that I don't like discos, going out, etc. I think it is very important to be the person you want to be and not the one others want you to be. 
Besides teachers seldom realize that a pupil is highly-talented. When I wrote the best English composition (14 points = 1) just about two weeks after having skipped a grade the teacher did not care. She said she had been surprised. When I wrote 15 points (=1+) in Chemistry about 2 months after having skipped a grade, the headmaster, our teacher, only said that I had learnt things on my own very well and that I now was able again to follow lessons. Teachers just don't care - maybe they do not want to care or they have never heard about giftedness. Before skipping a grade, when my parents told some teachers that lessons were always boring for me, there were teachers who even said I learnt things in advance and that my learning was the reason for me being bored at school! I never learnt things in advance, but they did not believe me. The highly-talented like learning new things and they often have a good general knowledge. 

Besides, in my experience it is very difficult to find things challenging you. I wanted to go to university (we are always very curious!) one or two days a week before skipping a grade but my headmaster did not allow me to go there. I would even go to school in a town about 45km away if there was a school for the highly-talented - but there isn't. If I wanted to attend the nearest school for highly-talented youngsters , I would be in trains/buses for about 3hours a day. 
This is, of course, impossible. There are boarding schools for highly-talented youngsters, however, they are far too expensive. A normal situated family in Germany can't afford the fee of 1500-2000 Euro to be monthly paid even if they are supported by the youth welfare department. If programmes for the highly-talented are offered, they are mostly for younger children up to 12. So what can one do? Im often bored but I try to make the best out of my situation. I exchange point of views with several other highly-talented youngsters. 

On the one hand Im very proud to be highly-talented but on the other hand I sometimes think it would be better if I weren't. To sum up, we can say that giftedness isn't always as easy as people think. Here are some links to other texts about giftedness. As I am concerned, I like watching films or reading books to take my mind off things. 

Here are some films I really liked and which I can only advise you to see: 

Good Will Hunting: The film is about the young Will who's very gifted for Maths. As he doesn't know about his giftedness, he takes the rough with the smooth. He has several jobs - one of them in a university as a charman where he first shows his talent. A professor wants him to work with him but he refuses. In the end, he takes him to a psychologist (Robin Williams). After a while they start talking.. 

Thirteen Days: The film is about the Cuba Crisis - a well-made political thriller. 

Artificial Intelligence: This film shows our world in the future: Robots are working for the human beings, children have little robots to play with. Then an experiment is started: A young robot is supposed to replace a real child.. 

Cube: In this film, several people (a policeman, a student, a woman, a mentally disabled and others) are suddenly caught in a cube and they try to get out. 

Das Experiment (The experiment): This film is about a group of psychologists making a new experiment: they take several normal people and put them in prison. Some of them are warders, others are prisoners. In the end, the situation escalates..

Here're some good books which I can only advise you to read: 

Sofie's World (by Jostein Gaarder): It's about the young Sofie who suddenly starts getting letters from an old man. He's sending her a course in philosophy. The book is mostly about the history of philosophy, about philosophers, but there's still an interesting (and sometimes strange) plot, though. 

Maya (by Jostein Gaarder): Maya also is a philosophical book. The plot is far too complex to be summarized. 

Die Wüstenblume: This book is the biography of the model Waris Dirie - it's about her life in Africa, her flight.. 

Die weiße Massai: This book is the biography of Corinne Hofmann living in Switzerland. When visiting Kenya, she gets to know a native and falls in love with him. She therefore starts living in the bush with him. Life there differs from her old life and is often difficult and complicated. 

Faserland (by Christian Kracht): Faserland is about a young man who travels from Sylt to Southern Germany. 

Homo Faber (by Max Frisch): The book is about the rationalist Faber who travels around the world. During his journey, he falls in love and starts to change his rational attitude. The book is written in a strange (maybe sarcastic) tone and really amusing.

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