The Many Faces of Gifted: Tara

By Carole Rosner

Every gifted person has a unique story. The following story is part of a series of posts depicting the many faces of gifted by highlighting gifted children and adults we have found through IEA programs. IEA’s Apprenticeship Program – mentioned in this story – links gifted high school students from across the country with mentors who advance each participant’s skills through the application of knowledge and exposure to real world experiences.

Tara Chang
IEA Apprentice at Avery Research Center in 2003
Senior Account Director, Visible Measures

“I would absolutely recommend students to consider the IEA Apprenticeship Program. It is not only a great opportunity to do incredible research, but it is also a great community of students and researchers. IEA was a very exciting summer experience that helped define my direction in college,” explained Tara Chang, 2003 Apprentice.

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Perfectionism and the Gifted

By Kate Williams

Perfectionism is a quality that I struggle with first hand. Even as an adult, I find myself obsessing over errors in my weekend softball games and silently competing with the runner on the next treadmill at the gym. As a child, I would spend countless hours tearing out pages of sketchbooks and notebooks because there was a misspelled word, a fragmented sentence or even a smudge from my left-handed cursive. A mistake meant that the entire project had to be redone, because if everything didn’t line up perfectly, including my penmanship, it wasn’t worth turning in. Projects and deadlines became daunting, because how could the perfect drawing be executed in just one weekend? After spending time with gifted adolescents throughout the summer, I realized that this was a common trait in gifted students and that I was not alone. I have found ways to focus this perfectionism into more constructive goals as I’ve gotten older, but I still see the importance (especially with gifted children) of addressing the ever “strangling” concept of failure.

What Does “Gifted” Mean Anyway?

By Lisa Hartwig

Lisa is the mother of 3 gifted children and lives outside of San Francisco.

In high school, I was identified as a gifted and talented student by the Research and Guidance Laboratory for Superior Students at the University of Wisconsin. I know this because my mother saved 2 reports from the laboratory. The reports contained testing results and interviews.

The first question on the report asked about my reaction to being identified as talented. My answer:

“I believe I am not exceptionally talented and that 8th grade reading scores couldn’t possibly tell. I have no feelings about it.”

I was 17 at the time I said this. I was one of 1800 students in my high school and deeply involved in the theater program. I was popular among my peers and I had a serious boyfriend. I also got a “C” in French that year. No wonder I was dismissive of my academic “talents”.

Using Facebook as a Resource for Your Gifted Child

By Jennifer Kennedy

Jennifer is IEA’s Marketing and Communications Coordinator. She works closely with IEA’s social media and connects with parents and educators of gifted children regularly through social networks.

Social networks seem to be everywhere, with new networks and tools popping up all the time. You are probably using social networks already, but did you know that they are more than just great ways to connect with friends from high school? They are also excellent gifted resources.