Yes and no. In my youngest years, I was so into other things, from daydreaming to very very serious ballet. School work started as "optional" at first, then was simply a side thought. I was into some subjects, particularly French. Then English literature and history interested me. Sometimes math came especially easy for me. I was very eager to participate in class sometimes, almost excessively. Then during more serious mood episodes it was not a priority again. I almost flunked a grade because I played hookie too many days during a depression.

At one point, they put me in a low level, almost remedial, class. Then when I became more focused on school work, I jumped all the way to the advanced levels, and did great. Somehow I graduated at the top of my high school class. I wasn't proud of myself. I almost felt like a fraud, or that everyone else must have been really lousy students.

In college, I had semesters on the Dean's list and ones with mediocre and occasional bad grades, depending on my moods. When "up", I made up for the "down" periods grade and credit wise. When "up", I felt like a super powered genius. When "down", I was motivationally and cognitively impaired, not to mention other suffering.

I didn't have to tell any teachers about my mental issues. They saw them. I had a traumatic incident in high school that eventually led to them recommending therapy, then transfer to a private school. At college, I was referred to a university psychiatrist, but that lasted only one visit before a mood switch. I rarely went back for second visits. While working and studying in Taiwan, my boss took me to a hospital that gave me bags of pills. My mood switched, then I quit to travel around Asia by myself, etc.

Q: What was the greatest year of your life so far, and why?