I don't fit

The first time I can remember someone trying to put me into one of those easy-to-sort cookie-cutter boxes was kindergarten. When the teacher discovered I had been able to read since before I began my first class, they decided to put me into the "smart kid" group. Yes, I could read; and yes, I loved to read; and yes, I was reading at a grade level beyond what I should have been reading at age 5, but all of that doesn't mean that I should have been put into that mold before I had a chance to learn anything about myself.

I was sent to take the G/T test that summer and apparently passed with flying colors because that was the group that I was put in whenever we had study groups. But even though I liked the trips we took in elementary school with the program, I didn't like the program itself. The people who designed the G/T program, at the time at least, believed that if you were "smart" then you must be creative and have a wonderful imagination and be able to do all kinds of things with your hands. But as I have said, I am not the stereotype. I am not a creative person. I can take photographs that you would not believe, I just have the eye for a certain type of shots, but I cannot create. That's just not me.

This is why I know that people, especially children, should not be labeled as one certain thing; or if you must label a child, label them into as many groups as possible, don't put them into one thing that they cannot get out of.