Thanks for starting this conversation. I like to ping pong over what other people add.

When we consider how much time is wasted for most gifted kids during their school years, there sure was a lot more learning for life time than was given to us. It would have helped to take money management and finance courses, relationship and family courses, all the home economics and shop courses for both boys and girls, and a much deeper and relevant set of coursework own politics, civics, history ... and taught in ways that really educated us!

I remember the school counseling I got. Mostly I was told, "You can do anything you want." The truth is that I thought I knew what I was doing and more or less discounted the counselor's ability to tell me anything I didn't already know. But I didn't know anything and neither, really, did the counselor as far as helping a very gifted girl prepare for her future.

I was also told in 11th and 12th grade not to sign up for AP chemistry or physics because I was a girl and wouldn't bee needing those courses anyway. But I digress.