Let’s start off with a simply question. Who is a gifted student?
The term giftedness comes with many misconceptions, but it simply means you’re smarter than most of your peers.
If you’re one of these students, we would like to congratulate you on your intellectual prowess.
To succeed in life, it’s important to embrace the traits that will set you apart from your peers and those that can help you succeed, regardless of your intelligence level.
In this article, we’ll highlight some characteristics you can look for to tell if your child or ward is gifted.
But don’t worry if they don’t exhibit all the characteristics we’ve pointed out here. Every kid out there is unique in their own way.
Let’s have a look at each one of them.
1. They Pursue Passion
The most successful and happiest gifted students are those who choose careers that line up with their interests. In addition, they are more likely to achieve goals because they spend more time and energy exploring their passions.
Truly fulfilled individuals are self-actualized. Learning is, for them, an end in itself rather than a means to an end.
The most successful students, gifted or not, share these qualities with other highly successful people in any field.
2. Develop Expertise
Gifted children develop expertise within their field early on in life. They are also resilient and able to rebound from mistakes.
Furthermore, they work independently without needing constant attention and encouragement; most importantly, they find learning for themselves more rewarding than someone telling them what to do.
3. Eager to Learn
Children with advanced mental abilities, like higher levels of creativity, originality, and intellectual curiosity, are eager to learn.
They possess a natural love for learning and understanding the world around them.
4. They Understand Themselves
Gifted students often have a deep understanding and appreciation for themselves, even from an early age.
Unlike children with developmental disabilities, gifted kids don’t typically have poor self-images. Self-understanding starts at a young age for these kids and is something they carry with them throughout their lives.
5. Not Scared to Leave Their Comfort zone
When they leave their comfort zone, gifted students learn more and explore what they’re capable of.
This is because when they are facing a situation that feels difficult or unfamiliar. Therefore, this drives them to push themselves to succeed so they can grow as a person.
6. Perceive Learning to be Fun
Achieving success in school is not always easy for gifted students. Numerous obstacles can stand in the way.
Sometimes this could be depression, anxiety, family conflict or even troubles with their peers.
However, one thing that gifted students have in common is the love and enjoyment they find in learning. While it might sound trite, it’s often true: someone who loves what they do finds a way to do it well.
A highly successful gifted student will see school as a fun and creative place where they can learn without hesitation.
Having an open mind toward education is key to these children’s success. Whether challenging them to finish a difficult problem on their own or trying out a new project without being told to do so, these kids enjoy testing the boundaries and giving their best effort.
7. Learn Independently
One characteristic that sets these students apart is their independent learning. With an intrinsic motivation to learn, they do not need external rewards such as grades or praise to keep them engaged in a given task.
Instead, they will immerse themselves in a new topic and dive headfirst into learning what they want to know without worrying about how long it takes or the degree of difficulty.
8. Embrace Challenges
Highly successful gifted students seek and embrace challenges. They enjoy the excitement and thrill of solving difficult problems.
These students generally see challenges as opportunities to grow rather than something scary that is off-limits.
Many of these students will engage in self-directed projects where they set their own goals. For example, they might spend hours exploring a subject on their own, designing new experiments for school science fairs, or writing complicated computer programs.
They are open-minded. Open-mindedness is a key trait of highly successful gifted students. They have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and a willingness to explore ideas from all angles.
9. Network With Other Smart People
To be a successful gifted student, it is important to network with other intelligent people who share your interests. This can increase social competence and heighten creative thinking abilities.
And in turn, networking exposes you to new opportunities. Besides, interacting with others from diverse backgrounds may improve their level of empathy.
These are just some reasons why meeting like-minded individuals is an essential trait for highly successful gifted students.
10. Usually Don’t Take School Too Seriously
Often, their intelligence makes them feel like school is too easy for them, which often causes them to see it as unimportant.
However, when gifted students take school seriously, they tend to excel at it. They put in the effort, but because the material or subject seems very easy, it’s hard for them to see why other people would struggle or find certain subjects difficult.
In addition, they love creative tasks that challenge them. Typically, a gifted student enjoy these types of tasks because it gives them a sense that they can use their talents to create something new, which is a rare opportunity for someone with such high intelligence.
Conclusion
One characteristic that is most prevalent among successful gifted students is ambition. No matter what the field, they are self-driven and want to succeed.
They know what their goals are and work hard to achieve them. They see themselves as winners and will do whatever it takes to get there.
Finally, when given an opportunity, they make the most out of it. If these characteristics sound like you or someone you know, it may be time for you to learn more about your giftedness.
Here at Davenport Psychology, we believe every gifted child is unique, and that’s why we have experts that will help nurture your kid mentally to be the best versions of themselves.
If you’d like a session with one of our medical experts for your gifted child on depression or low self-esteem issues, please visit any of our offices in Sarasota or Venice.