Regret over not skipping a grade?

[stapletonj]

Actually, I'm the experiment.

My brother (who also plays tennis) did not skip grades
I did.
We both became lawyers. We are partners.
Not really that much difference.
Except that I am a little better looking, of course.

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by Fandango

Hi, like the title states, I am having trouble getting over the fact that I never skipped a grade. I always was considered reasonably smart, picked things up fast, and earned straight As (except for a D in AP macroeconomics), which hurts me to this day. I don't know if I ever thought about skipping grades, but when I heard about a kid who was 14 and already into his sophomore year of college, it kind of hurt me.

I always took comfort in knowing that I always had the opportunity to do things in the past when the window is closed in the present. For instance, rather than filling myself with compunction and sadness for not skipping a grade or two, realizing that I had the opportunity to do it in the past helps me sorta deal with it. I feel like its a heck of a coping mechanism. Just telling myself, "you had it in the past." Is that weird in a way?

Also, no some of the brightest minds in history didn't skip grades- Einstein, Roosevelt, hell, even Federer. And I remind myself of this fact when I feel really down on myself.

I want to have this belief that anything is possible and be happy but it sometimes seems naive. I'm sorta in a rough state of mind, trying to get this grade skipping thing out of my head. If anyone can help me that would be great.

I don't know how old you are now, but I think by the time you hit "adulthood," this is going to be less and less of something you consider. If you're dwelling on missed opportunities, you're not going to be taking the opportunities available to you now, and/or making paths to the opportunities you still have in your future.

One question for you: Is this something you can control now? If not, don't worry about it. Move on, and make yourself a better person one day at a time. If you regret not accomplishing more in your limited youth, start making progress towards something you DO want to accomplish. There is no use in wasting energy regretting how things were.

Finally, I'd like to point out that for all of those young prodigies, I've never met a single one that was well adjusted in a social manner. I'm generalizing here (shame on me), but I think there is significant value in just interacting with "peers." By peers, here, I mean people of the same age group. While you may (or may not be) more mentally developed/mature than your age-peers, there is value in interacting with people, and it's a "skill" that many people cease to recognize until it's too late. Like it's been said above, even if you HAD skipped a grade (or two), you'll be a runt OR treated differently (perhaps not in a bad way) as compared to your peers. People are intimidated by unknowns/and things they don't fully understand, so there are significant disadvantages to being (what I like to call) "a prodigy."

JMHO.

TL;DR: It's never too late to start makin' moves. Quit dwelling on things you can't change.

[LuckyR]

Originally Posted by stapletonj

Actually, I'm the experiment.

My brother (who also plays tennis) did not skip grades
I did.
We both became lawyers. We are partners.
Not really that much difference.
Except that I am a little better looking, of course.

And more modest...

[sureshs]

If you skip grades, you start accumulating Social Security and Medicare points earlier and make more money, so it makes sense. Life is short.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by sureshs

If you skip grades, you start accumulating Social Security and Medicare points earlier and make more money, so it makes sense. Life is short.

But those days in middle school last so long when you skip a grade.

[Champs990411]

Bizarre topic.

No.

[djokovicgonzalez2010]

I feel similarly. I'm about to be a senior in high school and I had the option of skipping 2 grades, was encouraged to skip at least one, and didn't.
Thinking I could be well into college, I wish I had

[Steady Eddy]

Originally Posted by djokovicgonzalez2010

I feel similarly. I'm about to be a senior in high school and I had the option of skipping 2 grades, was encouraged to skip at least one, and didn't.
Thinking I could be well into college, I wish I had

Two grades! Why so many smart people on these boards? Do smart people play tennis?

[sportsfan1]

Presuming from your second post that this was a long time ago, so failing to see why this matters or why you are pondering over it? It's not like skipping a grade would have changed your life in a a huge way from where it is now?