How did you do in school?

Elementary school I was considered “gifted”, in math and i remember we made a class movie on Egyptians and I was the star and they pulled me aside for lunch and interviewed me on camera to show as an example of the work of the class. Then in middle school I started to slip. high School slipped but did a little better junior and senior year. Graduated with a B average (including gym and stuff) but took a lot of easy classes.

Then in college which was tougher I started to slip a little…dropping classes. never failed a class. Then took 4 years off from college, I’m back now and doing better than ever I believe.

I never could concentrate in school. idk how I got by, but now I listen to the teachers words and follow it well which I never did. And I never could read much but now I’m a good reader.

Not surprised to see the overwhelming # of people reporting strong academic achievement profiles.

My observation > noticing > recognition across a fairly large # of sz, bipolar, borderline and paranoid dx’d people is that the vast majority had “central processors” in their heads were well above average in speed and capacity.

My observation > noticing > recognition is also that most of those people seemed to be unusually sensitive to visual, aural and tactile stimulations from the surrounding environment… a factor that likely played a big part in their (mine, too) academic success.

Finally, a common thread among the majority of them (including self) was an at least mildly obsessive perfectionism about getting things right and insisting that the world work the way we believed we needed it to work.

I was a straight A student, always top of the top set (classed by ability) in everything. Declined very quickly around the age of 17 until I eventually was kicked out for something I did whilst psychotic.

Up until about the sixth grade; I was a high achiever especially in language arts and social studies. In the fifth grade; I was in a class for the “mathematically disabled.” In the sixth grade; I was in a class for the academically gifted and would memorized all my reports. About the seventh grade; I started going downhill in academics; except for the ninth grade where I did some reports based on college based research and my teacher stole my reports! I did graduate and went to college and got a B.A. in Psychology. I kept dropping courses in college and could only take about 13 hours a semester. My parents kept comparing me to them in college- how they worked one or two part time jobs, took 18 to 21 hours per semester, and graduated in three years. I could never be my parents! I was always and still am a voracious reader. I was reading at a college level before the sixth grade. Although, now I am reading many books meant for “teen-agers” because of, I guess the effect of the illnesses, medications, and I believe “brain damage.” Some days and some times, I just don’t understand as I guess I should. But, I do love and need to write my poetry and journals almost obsessively.

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i failed school, i was like the school misfit…i spent most of my time looking out the window at nature, trees :deciduous_tree: and birds :bird: .
take care :alien:

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I did well in school it was the only place I felt safe. I didn’t have legible handwriting though.

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i admire you, it takes guts to go back to school. :trophy:
take care :alien:

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I did fairly well. Got a college degree. Was lucky with the schiz , dxd bout 26. Applying myself was my main problem , craming before exams , all nighters , never gave project work up in time.

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I did terrible in elementary and junior high, but by the time I was in high school, I managed to be an A student throughout my four years. I got excepted into every college I applied for. My grades went south though in college. By the end of my second year I was suffering from massive symptoms. I then ended up quitting college, quitting my job and breaking up with my girlfriend all in about 2 hours. It was then that my life took on its roller coaster status.

In grade school and junior high I made A’s and B’s - mostly A’s. In high school I had a little trouble with math, but I did okay. When I was at college I did very well until I fell off the wagon. Before I fell off the wagon I had over a 3.5 gpa. After I fell off the wagon my grade point plummeted. I think I graduated with a 2.38 gpa.

I am a bright students at school and this credit goes to my parents who supported early education and enrolled me to best Long Island preschool, which provides all the facilities and opportunity for children to grow and develop. They also prepare children for kindergarten. I think early education is essential and plays an vital role in child’s upbringing. The parents who focuses on early education of their child, do better in school and future.

did well, high school, degree, a Dr of motors, and drafting. and some art in college. now I just play with left over books I get.

I did well in elementary but my MI started to shade my life thereafter. Did terrible from then on. Was expelled from high school for streaking during a playoff basketball game. Cry for help or cry for validation of my existence???

I was an average student. Doing just fine, nothing spectacular. Finding myself in comfortable 68% of the population. Thanks for schizophrenia I am in an extraordinary 1%. So it’s not that bad after all hey? :wink:

Once my sz hit, I went from being near the top to near the bottom, got disqualified from community college…had to petition the school to get back in. My GPA was a wreck from failing so many classes. At the age of 26 I was like about to give up, not just me, but my pdoc said to, too. End of story, right? Nope!

After my sz, after all the failing grades, I took a few easy classes to barely raise my grades to a 2.75 GPA, but it got me transferred to the Cal state system. I stabilized on meds, raised GPA up to a 3.0 in one year, graduated, entered grad school with minimum GPA, graduated there, applied for PhD programs…waiting to hear on those.

Yea, every now and then my grades will fluctuate based on how sick I am, but overall I can pull it off.

I think there should be more accommodations for sz in college. I know I would’ve graduated on time instead of like a decade later had there been more accommodations, but at least I got those dang diplomas! and my thesis looks plenty classy sitting there on the bookshelf, too

:heart:

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I am graduating from high school soon. My school experience is a weird one and was heavily impacted by sz.

So, I was actually far behind many of my peers growing up and couldn’t read until I was seven years old. They even held me back a grade and were trying to place me in a special education program. I was not placed there, and started to perform average until 8th grade. At this point, I was 14-15 and got hit by sz.

I became increasingly paranoid that my best friend was trying to destroy my “studies” and excelled fiercely in school. I became obsessed with performing well on exams. Voices and delusions then informed me that if I did poorly, I would end up in the void or they would kill me and my family. I became an expert on academics and rose to the top of my class. I got so wrapped up in the idea that the fate of my family rested in my hands. I would study for days without eating or socializing and set traps around my room in fear of intruders.

This got pretty bad…after an early melt down, I was taken to a pdoc and given medication which indeed helped. I went into high school and was still able to perform well despite a few relapses. I am currently still at the top of my class. However, now I learn to actually learn the material and enjoy it.

If I have learned anything, it is that grading systems are unfair and inaccurate. Despite my academic performance, I know many people who put their all towards a test and still do poorly on it. These people are far from “stupid” or “below average” as they say.

The intelligence of a person should be judged on the quality of their thoughts and actions–not a mere, subjective score.