Quote Originally Posted by Geonz
I started school early and dropped out a year early to go to college.

16 **is** young to be in college (tho' really it was the best option for me). In hindsight, I might have done better to do something else to figure out myself and the world, before heading off to college to do academic stuff. And, at one point (eighth grade), we considered having me stay back a year to mature.

Research bears out the experiences here: for girls, it is socially much less comfortable & healthy to be the most mature one in the class; for boys, it is more stressful to be late maturing. (Think abotu what it's like to have a full figure in fourth grade... the comments... etc... I would have were I not younger...)
The Ex skipped three grades, making him a just-turned 15-year-old in college. I don't know what he would be like had he stayed the regular course, but I could see personality traits that made me wonder...

He always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. He was tall and good looking, yet he seemed to have a Napoleonic Complex.

He was completely unable to make small talk and never knew how to relax and "go with the flow."

He had difficulty making friends. When he met new people, he didn't see them as potential friends, but as potential rivals.

He was successful, but never successful enough. To him, being extremely successful + unhappy was better than being moderately successful + happy.

He had difficulty seeing women as human beings. He never answered my question when I asked him when he had his first date. That said, he had the requisite trophy wife/model when he made his first million.

He was the smartest person I had ever met. But I couldn't help but see a very sad and lonely child. I probably understood him better than anyone had in his life, but he was ultimately too messed up to have a stable relationship.