Talented And Gifted School
Going to a talented and gifted school was quite a privilege, but it also involved quite a few more responsibilities than other kids had. When I was growing up, most talented and gifted schools cost an arm and a leg. My parents didn’t have a lot of money, so we were lucky we were able to find a gifted charter school in the area. It was actually not quite in our immediate area. It was a good half hour drive each way to school – not a problem for me, but quite an inconvenience for my parents who both worked 50 hours a week or more. Nonetheless, they wanted the best for me, so they made the commitment to drive me there. There was no bus that went there, so they had to carpool every morning. That meant that I would have to get there an hour before school and stay an hour late.
Of course, like any good talented and gifted school, the academy I went to gave out a lot of homework, so I made use of that extra time in school. It meant that, by the time I got home at night, I had a good start on my homework and that, if I did not get everything done before I went to sleep, I still had an hour to do it in the morning. At first it seemed like an inconvenience to get to school early and leave late, but soon I saw it was a blessing.And classes at that talented and gifted school were out of this world. I was able to move way ahead in math class, taking courses I wouldn’t have been able to for a couple years in public school. And the electives were even better. I got to study computer programming, learn a little bit about welding and construction, and even study some basic tracking and survival skills in an enrichment program. Perhaps the best part of it, however, was the other talented and gifted resources.
The school had one of the best libraries I had ever seen, and one of the most helpful librarians I have ever met. He would help find resources on almost any subject you can imagine, and he was always there to listen to any questions and give you helpful answers. The instructors were also pretty great too – at least some of them. There were teachers at the talented and gifted school who would be your friends as much as your instructors, giving you helpful advice and academic counseling. Some of them had engaged in other fascinating project before becoming teachers, so you could get help with out of school projects as well. I had professors, for example, with backgrounds in engineering. They came in handy when I wanted to design and build my own robot!