What Happens When ‘Genius Kids’ Grow Up – 06/02/2023 – Equilibrium

A 4-year-old boy made headlines last week after becoming the UK’s youngest member of Mensa, the international society for people with super high IQs.

Teddy, who can count up to one hundred in six languages, including Mandarin, is already way ahead of his peers.

But what happens to kids like Teddy when they grow up?

Two decades ago, Christopher Guerin was in a similar position to Teddy. He was ranked the UK’s smartest child aged 12 in 2002, beating thousands of other children.

“It was something my family and I didn’t expect,” says Guerin, now 32. “My face was all over the newspapers, including the BBC website.”

With an IQ of 162, he was already a member of Mensa. He joined the organization after seeing Lisa Simpson apply, during an episode of “The Simpsons”.

Mensa has 140,000 members worldwide and accepts people who score in the top 2% of the general population on an intelligence test.

The organization describes itself as “the world’s leading high-IQ society”, offering its members a space for people to socialize, grow intellectually and engage in interesting activities.

Guerin’s victory opened up many opportunities for him, including an invitation to watch his favorite team, Aston Villa, play with the club’s chairman and a free trip to Ireland – his parents’ home country – paid for by the Irish Tourist Office. .

People around Guerin expected him to be excellent, and he didn’t find that negative. In fact, it encouraged him. “Personally, I responded well to that,” he says.

“I think that even if I hadn’t won, I would have wanted to excel at what I was doing anyway, but it definitely gave me another incentive. I went to a state elementary school, which meant that being academically competitive was part of the high school ethos. anyway, so it was a really good environment and most people reacted positively.”

The UK’s smartest kid has completed three master’s degrees, including one at Cambridge, and is currently studying for his PhD.

He works as a vice principal at a secondary school, where he uses his experience to encourage his students.

“I’ve given talks on how to make the most of opportunities,” says Guerin, who got married a few months ago. “It doesn’t have to be exams or academic stuff, but whatever you’re interested in, it’s a really cool thing to do.”

home schooling

Arran Fernandez, 27, was another gifted child and says he didn’t face any additional pressure either.

He was just 15 when he went to Cambridge University to study mathematics, becoming the youngest student at that institution since 1773. At 18, he was the university’s mathematics champion.

Fernandez, who was homeschooled, says, “My experience [na faculdade] it certainly wasn’t typical, but I don’t miss her either. Each experience is unique in its own way.”

Socially, I never really minded comparing my age to others, so I didn’t feel different from my peers because of my age. Entering university for the first time is life-changing and a new experience for everyone, whether you’re 15 or 18.”

Fernandez, who is now an associate professor of mathematics at Eastern Mediterranean University in northern Cyprus, says he has always tried to do his best at his job. “This is for my own satisfaction and not because of outside pressure.”

“I found that people often had high expectations of me, thinking I must be a ‘genius’ because of my age, but I didn’t let the perceptions or expectations of strangers affect my psychology or put undue pressure on me. “

But he says he doesn’t like the term “child genius”.

“I wasn’t – and I’m not – a genius, just someone who was given exceptional educational opportunities and was able to make the best of them.”

He says the opportunities and support he’s had doesn’t make him “better” than anyone else — at least it’s inspired him to “try to support others to achieve similar opportunities and successes,” he says.

Adult professional life

Of course, being gifted as a kid doesn’t mean you get your own way all the time.

Jocelyn Lavin, who grew up musically gifted and was accepted into Manchester’s prestigious Chetham’s School of Music, says being considered a child genius didn’t negatively affect her growing up.

But she adds that in adult professional life, people often want things done a certain way – “and they don’t like it when you don’t fit the mold and have your own way of thinking and seeing things.”

Lavin has worked as a teacher and secretary, among other jobs, and a few weeks ago she applied for her “perfect role”.

“I filled out the application questionnaire and emphasized that I felt I could do the job well with my investigative skills,” she explains. “However, they responded that my answers to the questions on the application were the opposite of what they were looking for for the position, which made me feel that the skills I have are preventing me from looking for a job.”

Wendy Berliner, an education journalist, says that often, for adults, becoming exceptional “has more to do with things like determination, motivation, curiosity.”

“Support is also very important: with people who are high achievers, you’ll usually find that there’s someone very supportive behind them who encourages them,” he says.

Raising a Mensa child can be ‘exhausting’

Talented Mensa consultant Lyn Kendall says the youth at the organization are highly motivated: they have a “need” to learn.

He says Mensa runs a support group for parents of gifted children that currently has about 300 families. Parenting a Mensa child is demanding, he says. “It’s exhausting and frustrating, to the point of nearly ruining marriages.”

Berliner notes that anyone considering having a gifted child should encourage them “to be a person who is comfortable and happy in their life, that’s the most important thing.”

And many parents may be in that same position right now.

After Teddy made headlines for his high IQ, Kendall received 38 emails from parents of 3- and 4-year-olds asking for help.

They would say: “We have such a child.”