Our daughter is a HS senior now. Heaven gave her to us as our first born when I was a graduate student. Other than giving her food, shelter and love, we did not know much about education and push at that time. She was just a regular kid raised by grand parents.
This all changed when she got into the first grade. School called and wanted to have a conference. It turned out, our daughter was so advanced and smart, they can not put her in the regular classes any more. From there on, she has been in the gifted program. By her junior year, she has started to win different awards. What I liked most was those big hugs every day when I came home after work. All her teachers love her because she is so considered for others, other than her academics.
Now she is a senior applying for college, her GC wrote "such a student comes along once every 20 years" in her profile. One of her teachers wrote "xx is the best student in my 30 years teaching career" in the recommendation letter. Even so she acts just like every other teenages and does everything opposite to what we told her in the house, she continues to excel in school and community.
We moved to this new community 1.5 years ago. As a new comer, she won the school's community service award, becomes the president of key club, took over the lead of stage crew for school's theater play, and launched a new recycle program for the HS.
Both me and my wife are on the "slow" side. She has only an associate degree from community college and I have an advanced degree from a very low rank school. 我的祖上一定积累了很多荫德. That heaven gave us such a joy in our life.
I just wish she could get two more points in her ACT composite, LOL.