by Seth Freeman, reposted from HuffPost Impact June 4, 2010
If things had gone as they should, in 2016, Charlie Miller would have found a way to reduce the battery in an electronic car to one tenth of its current size and weight while quadrupling its storage capacity. In 2018, Jenny Rodriguez would have developed a compound that binds to cancer cells and deprives them of the nourishment they need to grow, paving the way for a powerful new therapy. In 2025, Martin Pradeep would have written an innovative and entertaining first novel, nominated for a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.
But Charlie, Jenny, and Martin will do none of these things because in 2010 all three of them dropped out of high school.
Although their names are invented, Charlie, Jenny, and Martin represent real present-day teenagers. Of course we can't really know what these young people might have accomplished if they had stayed in school, gone on to college and then gone on to productive lives in their chosen fields. What we do know is that all three of them are gifted individuals. And, although it might seem surprising, as it did to me, what we also know is that some of our very brightest, most talented kids have great difficulty in school, and many actually drop out, some even living dysfunctional lives on the edge of society.
How is that even possible? Aren't bright kids capable of rising above adverse circumstances, finding ways to succeed? I had always thought so. I was wrong.
