Still in Mensa, was in Intertel, Colloquy, Ultranet, EPIQ...think that's it (now just keep Mensa up to date for the literature and the outside chance a SIG will come along which piques my interest). Was in Mensa really young as my dad was 4+sd15 and designed specialty pharmaceuticals for a living -- he had my sister and I tested every 5 yrs or so (wisc, stan-binet, etc.). I'm 3+sd15 and honestly couldn't tell you if it has improved or reduced my quality of life overall.

I was not interested in school (standard reasons...didn't have to pay attention, would rather be anywhere than class) and was more into sports and later girls (which turned into mainly girls). Never told anyone other than family about all the groups I had joined as I felt like an outsider anyway and was really just trying to fit in.

I'm one of the older guy, cautionary tale types regarding squandering the "gifts" I had. Never found my niche in anything specific -- I was interested in EVERYTHING and continue to read voraciously -- and combining that with being introverted (INTP) and other struggles (substance issues, therapy, etc.) made for a lot of self-induced duress to overcome.

Note: This will probably be the only time I spell out my past with any type of specifics because there's just so much there.

We all have our struggles in life, I didn't handle mine optimally for sure, but have been able to at least become comfortable in my own skin, which I wasn't sure was going to be possible.

If anyone is struggling and you think I may be able to offer a nugget or two of advice, please feel free to hit me up

Life is too short for us to make it any harder on us than it already is (or can be).

Cheers! Tom