I was in the gifted program throughout my junior high years. Always tested "off the charts" per my guidance counselor. That being said I always had problems staying on task and staying out of trouble. Not serious trouble, just disruptive. Knew something was wrong with me when I was a freshman but too scared to tell anyone. Suffered for about 10 years before I finally graduated college and moved out on my own. Like Amazonmom, school was always really easy for me. Skated through my bachelor's in nursing without much difficulty at all... got straight As... P'd my classmates off!! I'm also musical. Played in honors band throughout high school (trumpet). Gave lessons in high school and was hired by several different area churches for holidays. That part I never thought about because I come from a musical family and no one else has bipolar disorder. My bro and I are a lot alike in that we are both trumpet players (he's now head band director of over 300 students in the high school where we grew up) and both were in the gifted program. Unfortunately for me somewhere along the line my brain thought having bipolar disorder would be fun. Guess I got the short end of the stick on that one!!!