Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Venomous
The relationship between academic performance and intelligence has always been an interest of mine. Nearly all of my life I have believed that what my academic scores were defined not only how intelligent I was but also how worthy I was and how successful I would be in life.
When I was in elementary school I failed almost everything and was told that I would likely never be successful in life and that I was retarded. I used to be beaten by my dad for my grades and rushed out of the school via ambulance for seizures due to excessive levels of stress from abusive teachers.
But when I entered high school and was enrolled in a special education program specifically for those with autism spectrum disorders, mostly Asperger’s Syndrome, my scores improved dramatically with the support. I was an honors student every year and won numerous awards in martial arts, geography, science, philosophy, English, etc. I passed a final math exam with a grade of 102% and graduated advanced philosophy with a 98% grade.
I started university in 2010 - everything spiraled downhill. Lost all the disability support I had previously and was expected to ‘conform’ to a different standard. After several attempts with both online and campus universities, I’ve decided that I don’t want to attend a university henceforth.
Others on PsychCentral and in real life have complimented me about my knowledge on certain subjects and intelligence. Recently, when the police brought me home from the hospital, the officer told me I was the smartest person he’s ever known, and my best friend has said that I am an “encyclopedia” and that I am “inhumanely smart” when it comes to my areas of expertise.
I’ve spent my entire life believing that I am an incompetent, stupid, worthless failure that can’t achieve anything, but others so often tell me I am smart, and I am conflicted with constant struggles in school, especially universities, and my alleged intelligence.
Which brings me back to the main concerns I have - Does academic success measure the intelligence of a person? What is the relationship between academic scores and intelligence? Can I be smart and not do well in university?
|
The short answer is yes. You can be brilliant and not do well in university. Being successful in a university setting requires a set of skills that don't really have much to do with academic intelligence; but more with a sort of social intelligence.
I believe in multiple intelligences: having seen dancers dance, basketball stars play basketball, chefs cook, singers sing, and professors lecture about a multitude of subjects -- there are all kinds of mental giants in the world. And who is to say who is greater: the receptionist at the front desk, the poet or the painter or the engineer or the philosopher or the dancer or the boxer or the hockey star or the chess player or the physicist or the brain surgeon?
Or the loving mother or the kindergarten teacher or the guy who builds the smoothest, most beautiful roads I've ever had the privilege to drive on? If you haven't succeeded at university, out of all the problems I'd order, I'd put lack of raw intelligence last, last, last.
And out of all the proofs of intelligence I'd put a formal degree near last if not last on a list, too. You obviously have intelligence to spare. What you need is someone who is familiar with your unique set of challenges to help you find the best way to get the education you want and or need.
I cannot tell you where to go, but I hope someone can help you find the resources you need near where you live; whatever challenges you have faced in your previous experiences should be evaluated with how you are
now to see how to best approach you achieving your goals. I'd start with a therapist if you have one.
I wish you could talk to my academic advisor; if she didn't know herself I think she'd know
how to tell you how to proceed. So maybe an appointment with an advisor where you tried going to school would be a good start? I hope someone else can weigh in here.