Sky Choi, 12, reacts to a correct answer as he finishes his homework in the library at Florida International University before class.
(Lou Toman, Sun Sentinel / April 13, 2009)Stumped by your daily crossword puzzle? Feeling sub-par in the intelligence category? Well, if you are not feeling bad enough already, here's a little item that will make you feel downright dumb.
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Miami - Dana Choi drops off her 12-year-old son, Sky Choi, at school every morning, but is not allowed to set foot on campus for fear of embarrassing him.
The curb is the dividing line. On one side is Sky, the kid from Pembroke Pines who loves video games, tae kwon do and pingpong. On the other side is Sky Choi, the Florida International University physics and math major who started a nonprofit organization to send care packages to Iraqi immigrant children.
"I'm not allowed to step on campus," Dana Choi, an attorney, explains from just beyond the curb.
"Yeah. Bye," Sky retorts.
Sky is considered profoundly gifted, meaning he scores higher than 99.9 percent of the population on IQ and achievement tests. He tested and displayed an IQ higher than the 160 maximum on most accepted intelligence tests. [more]
12 comments:
Good morning, Promise, I guess it's early enough I can show my face, what with time zones and jobs to attend. I'm finding the opposite sex somewhat toxic right now.
I don't envy the 12 year old's future. I was unfortunately a precocious child, tested at 160 at the age of 10. Thank god life is not an achievement test. Luckier than young Mr. Choi, I was only 2 years younger than my high school classmates. Like Harry Chapin, I "learned about love in the back of a Dodge". At the age of 14, I was going out with a physically precocious 16 year old. The Dodge (with a big-assed Hemi under the hood) was her Daddy's. I got to drive it when we were out of sight, and she took me for e few rides as well. The fact that Daddy was a preacher-man made it quite sweet even then. And both she and the Dodge had substantial hood ornamentation. Am I boring the shit out of you with my puerile accounts of 50 year old teenage angst? Well, actually, that early awakening (in the Dodge) turned out to be the best part of what my teachers called "advanced placement".
I was a fair athlete then, and for 63, not bad now. I can still hit the 15 foot jumper with a hand in my face (Bball is our official state religion here), make a running catch, and I've done a 20:16 5K and ridden a bike a 100 miles in 7 hours, but that was 10 years ago. But a 15 year old boy can't hit a curve ball thrown by an 18 year old man, so I washed out of baseball. And at 15 I was 5'6" and 145, so I was stuck on the B-team. The Dodge beckoned, I quit.
I went to the University of Kentucky in 1962 (Your birth year, Jeannie, by my count) on a National Merit Scholarship, and guess what?, like the asshole in The Graduate who suggested "plastics" to Dustin Hoffman, in the 50's it was nuclear physics, rather than truth that was going to set us free. But I "dodged" that bullet by knocking up my girlfriend two years later. The result will be 44 years old on July 4.
So I said all that to say this: I wish Mr. Choi well, but when he graduated from MIT at the age of 16, he may look back and say WTF happened to my life? I truly hope not. I hope he finds his own little Janie, whose Daddy has given her the keys to big-assed set of wheels, and get his groove on. We don't need another fucking mad scientist, anyway.
We have been awfully goddam high- minded on here lately, even in our rants. Maybe it's time we explored some of the baser side of life on a dying planet. So here is another little tweak on the recent art discussion. Can we all agree that the quality of porn has just gone completely to hell over the last few years?
BTW, PMT, do you know or are you familiar with a guy
Named Tom Spanbauer?
Windhover, flying in the fucking dark.
WH...sorry, but not all of us are toxic...I think CA and I are very mellow people...my toxic days are way in my past.
I do feel sorry for kids who are moved into college too soon. I think there are a lot of outside intersts they can [ursue so that they can stay in school with kids their own age and mature a bit. It would be exceedingly difficult socially in a world where everyone is so much older, dating and having relationships...a lot of these kids are socially scarred and regret the move to higher education too soon.
It is great to have a fine mind, but people need to grow emotionally also. Just being a year younger than my high school friends was difficult enough...I can't imagine being 12 in college.
Our daughters both tested in the 99.9% percentile and we made sure that they had normal school experiences...to offset those my husband and I had. They are now bright charming and exceedingly well rounded and talented individuals and we also like and admire them very much(the love is unconditional).
I think that many of these kids that get pushed too far too fast crash and burn later...
See ya for today...I'm either staying away from the wine for a bit or moving wine time to 6 pm or a bit later. Since it stays light so long I can use the painting time. Will try and check in in the am.
WM:
So you are, both of you (mellow). Please accept my apology (once again). My blanket statement was inappropriate and misguided. Consider the source. Mellow is life long goal for me, but seemingly just as distant as when I first began. But I persist. Again, sorry.
Windhover, chastened (but not chaste).
PS: Just in case your wondering, I have NOT "jumped the fence".
WH...glad the fence was too high and the gate is locked.
On your other post...Porn...I really can't answer that. I am a babe in the woods. I think, in college, someone got a hold of an 8 mm actual movie(back in the 60's) that was one of those guys in black socks things...it was hilarious and we were mostly drinking and it was definitely hysterical...you know, no big deal!
I think I also saw one in color in the 80's...again, pretty funny.
I was mostly into foreign films with subtitles or in high school, French w/o subtitles...The only actual x-rated movei that I saw at the time was Midnight Cowboy, and I think it was so rated more for the subject matter than the language even...a real classic and it made me a Dustin Hoffman fan.
Other than that, I just go on my merry way...don't need visuals, good imagination.
On another subject...sort of...I realized that once I stopped "working" in the traditional sense, I became seriously more mellow...money is so much tighter, but realy worth it. I was(am) one of those people who get really caught up in whatever job I am doing and want to change the world( no surprise there), much to my own aggravation and those around me...I abhor stupidity in the work place and saw too much of it. I had 3 superb years in the cooking school/retail store and those of us that worked together then are still best of friends. My former boss is my best friend...and I have traveled with her and another lady that I met there...also now a very good friend. But that was only 3 years of mellow and happy out of eons.
My husband is much happier that I am a mellow person nowadays...we talk and laugh all the time and have so much fun...we have a lovely family, fabulous in-laws and I would rather take the hits of rejection for my paintings that are a necessary part of learning and moving forward, than dealing anymore with the job-related issues.
So, Maybe...just step outside and instead of seeing all the things that need doing...just enjoy the beauty that surrounds you and suck in the peace...remember...just breathe.
Cheers...and no need to appologize... I just like to needle you once in a while...gotta have a wee bit of fun. ;o) WM
J:
Interesting choice of phrasing. I don't know about when you went to the horse farm before, but here in the "Horse Capital of the World", they call the activity in the breeding shed "natural cover".
WH
I am in the midst of collapsing after a delightful visit with my cousin and her husband from Sweden and another cousin who lives close by. Her sister was also here for the weekend so we did a lot of eating, drinking and reminiscing about our somewhat off-kilter family. I know, everyone thinks their own family was a little off-kilter. Well..for instance, ours didn't believe in inoculations. Well, they believed they existed, but they did not believe in having their children vaccinated against those pesky diseases like smallpox or diphtheria. It wasn't a religious thing, just a "we don't want that icky stuff in our kids' bloodstreams' thing. Later on, some of the cousins had to be vaccinated for certain jobs or to travel. I think I'm the only one who still has never had a vaccination.
Oh yes, on to super bright kids. I think it would be a very unusual family who could help their child deal with the emotional problems that can come with that kind of precociousness. How can they have any social life? Maybe Sky Choi's family has a handle on it. I hope so for his sake.
No 160 IQ for me, but I did graduate from high school at 16. Although scholarships were available, the thought of "going away" to college was not something I was mature enough to deal with. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up, so I just piddled away a couple of years at the local community college and got married, mainly because all my girlfriends already had.
I was an extremely unsophisticated girl. It wasn't until I was a few years older and divorcing my husband that I started getting out and about. Then, like the idiot I was, I believed him when he said he would change and wanted to get back together. That took up another seven or eight years, until I FINALLY figured it out and left for good.
Like Wolfmom I really haven't seen much porn. The few movies I've seen were quite a few years ago. I don't remember being so much aroused as being a little embarrassed and fascinated to boot. I do know that if there was some comedy about it (just like sex in general) I enjoyed it more.
Jeannie, I don't envy you. It hasn't been that long since I would come back to work from vacations to find that most of my work had been piled in a file and left for me to get caught up on. I, like you, always left a clean desk when I was covering for others.
WH, Your story reminds me a bit of Freds's. His introduction to sex was at the hands, and other parts, of an older woman. In his case, it was a friend of his mother's. He has fond memories. Nowadays, she be sitting in jail. He also gave up his dreams of B-ball big-time. I have heard from many people who knew him at the time that he was the real deal. When he was 16 he was run down by a bicycle and had his left leg broken in several pieces. After being in a cast for a year, he played again, but not with the same talent/speed he had previously displayed.
We are all products of our histories, so hopefully we have and will weather what comes. That old saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" has some truth in it. At least we are all still alive and considering the alternative, that can't be bad.
It must be time for some wine!
OKAY...I just know I posted here and it is gone...I have no idea who might enjoy that post...someone.
OKAY...I just know I posted here and it is gone...I have no idea who might enjoy that post...someone.
Jeannie,
Maybe you composed it and thought you hit the post button but didn't complete the action.
Other than that possibility, I don't know what could have caused your post to go missing. I strongly suspect that it never actually got posted. I would say that you must not have succeeded in posting it since I didn't get your post in my email, but that has proven to not be trustworthy. I do know that there have been posts in the past that definitely wound up on the blog but not in my Inbox. Perhaps Blogger is just buggy sometimes. Try composing your message using Notepad or some other text editor. That way, if something goes wrong the first time you can retry it.
PMT, I can assure you I post here the same way I post everywhere else associated. Not sure what happens here. I'm not stupid, you know.
Jeannie, Somehow (I don't understand it either) your post wound up on "Where Am I" entry from a couple of days ago, rather than the most current "Talk About Smart" entry (this one). I think this might be the one that got lost.
"CA, it just really rubbed me the wrong way today after coming back...You have admit, that 223 e-mails plus the other crap I take care of gets done. Yep, in this economy you might want to have your expense report forwarded on...just my thought. I know my "job" is important (somewhat) but can't figure why mine can't be covered in my absence.
April 20, 2009 9:32 PMAnyway, I understand where you are coming from. It used to really tick me off too. I don't think there is much you can do about it. If you are a responsible worker you will just keep on doing a good job and taking up the slack for other people. Not fair, I know, but I never came up with a solution for it.
When I got ready to retire, I had almost 2,000 hours of sick leave on the books. So many people told me that I should pretend I was stressed out (not too much pretense there) and get a doctor's letter that I needed to spend my last six months on sick leave. It would have been full pay and I could have stayed home and coasted for the last six months. It would have worked, but I just couldn't do it. It wouldn't have been honest.
All you can do is be true to yourself.
Got to do some cleaning up and get to bed. We have our new patio set coming first thing in the morning... Yea!!
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