The Myth of Gifted People

When I was growing up, I excelled in school. I still do now in my final year of college. It is undeniable that my success in school is partially due to the fact that I am diligent at putting substance into my assignments and responsible with completing assignments on time. But, most of the time, I do not have to work too hard to get good grades and if I did I knew that I did not need to do so. Many different people in my life- parents, sisters, friends, bosses, acquaintances, etc.- have remarked that I was smart or gifted. But I always just shrugged off the compliments because I am uncomfortable with receiving compliments, I was trying to be modest and I never really believed in “being gifted.”

A month ago, a close friend of mine and I were eating dinner and watching TV. She randomly asked me during a commercial break if I thought I was gifted. I gave the question some thought and then confidently replied, “Yes.” I, then, asked her the same question. She said, “No.” I asked her why she thought that. She said, “Because I don’t do well in school.” I replied with a mild look of surprise, “Well, doing well in school has nothing to do with being gifted.” She said, “But you get such high grades. I don’t know how to do that.” I replied, “That’s because I was trained to get high grades. I know what teachers want.” We ended the conversation with her saying, “That’s true.” I didn’t give the conversation any immediate analysis and continued watching TV.

110 PRIDE Statements

When I was a Resident Advisor (RA) for a residence hall on campus two years ago, I initiated a campus-wide PRIDE Statements event during LGBTQA Month in April. My fellow RAs and I collected and came up ourselves with 110 statements of revelation, affirmation, introspection and statistics about issues that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people face in their daily lives. The statements were written on paper flags and the flags were staked across the campus ground for a whole day. The event also included a speech made by the Director of the university’s LGBTQA Services at the campus amphitheater and a PROUD t-shirt giveaway. The event was so successful- slightly controversial and eye-raising but highly educational and affirming- that it was done again the next year.

Here are the 110 statements that we staked to the ground:

1. Your best friend could be gay.
2. There is nothing gay about pink.
3. “Gay” is not a synonym for “stupid.”
4. “Faggot” was a 19^th century British slang term for fuelwood used to make fires.
5. Holding hands in public should be open to all couples.