I was the "gifted" kid. Constantly told I was so smart for my age, or how quickly I'd pick up what I'm being shown. Always showered with a praise I didn't feel like I earned, and never feeling a need to improve or a want to learn better. Cause I was constantly told how I was "so smart".

Then grade 10 came up, and I failed two classes. One of them was math, a course I previously excelled in. The other was history, something I knew I was awful at. Those praises turned into questions of "you're able to do this, why didn't you?" And "You're smarter than this, aren't you?" I missed out on an intro to engineering cause I had to take 1 on 1 catch up classes the following semester to make up for it.

I eventually did pass my math course, and never did do much better than a grade 10 level. History, I passed by 2%. You need 30 out of 36 possible credits to graduate, I made it with 30 and a half credits. My last class was an intro to anthropology, and I only passed with a 56%.

"Gifted kid" is a bullshit title given to you by people who don't understand that just because you can learn something at a young age, doesn't mean you are gifted in the art of learning.