Date: 26 May 2013 17:38 Title: Gifted
Woah! Woah! Big time shift here -- and I was so looking forward to Seven meeting Maren for the first time -- oh well. But I do like that story about Maren tinkering with the anti-grav bouncer, a sign of her mechanical abilities and also a classic response from the teachers who don't know how to handle such a gifted pupil.
Being someone who has drifted in and out of schools from an early age, and also having been homeschooled when I was younger. I can understand both Maren's perspective and her parent's perspective to. It's tricky because you want to nurture that talent but also give such a gifted child a sense of a challenge, because without a challenge those abilities will go to waste.
So I liked how you touched upon more unorthodox ways of teaching children, in particular gifted children.
Date: 25 May 2013 12:10 Title: Gifted
Oh, Dear God! How did her parents cope? Unbridled genius without the constraints of adult wisdom.
Author's Response:
Well, really, how is that much different from Maren at 26? The biggest difference is now it's Adele's problem. ;-)
Date: 22 May 2013 22:04 Title: Gifted
Uggh...Math. *shudder* This was pretty neat. I don't know much about your characters, but it's an interesting introduction/early look at her, I'm interested to see who this character is in your fic. And the playground sounded awesome.
Author's Response:
Thanks, TS! Maren's the chief engineer in my post-VOY series, Star Trek: Tesseract.
Date: 21 May 2013 03:07 Title: Gifted
A nice look into the mind of a gifted eight-year-old. Sometimes we as adults forget that while they are capable of doing things at a higher intellectual level they are still just kids underneath it all, with the same joys, fears and longings as their peers. I like how you showed that with the anti-grav bouncer - she wanted to make it more fun for her friends; it wasn't about showing off or proving that she was smarter than they were.
Author's Response:
Thanks, LBD!
Date: 20 May 2013 22:01 Title: Gifted
Ha. The last line is a clincher.
I like though how you capture how perfectly aware a young child can be of how different they are, of the problems surrounding them. They don't have to be prodigies like Maren to feel or understand that. Perhaps her intelligience at least helps her see how her difference can be an asset in the future; alas too many of our children don't appreciate that about their young lives.
A terrific little insight into Maren's youth and shows how different her gift made her life. In many ways, it probably equipped her in more than one way to be able to be with Icheb.
Author's Response:
Thank you, MF! I think Maren does know what it's like to be the outsider and that definitely helped her relate to Icheb (her intellect didn't hurt, either). While their respective backgrounds couldn't be more different, they share a lot of the same personality traits and core values.
Date: 20 May 2013 20:24 Title: Gifted
I like how this reads, getting inside the head of a child which is something I can never do. Thanks, Mac! I have a kid this age, which helped give me an ear for the narrative style. He's wicked smart but only busts out with the ten dollar vocabulary words when he's going off about some interest of his or trying to impress someone. When he's speaking from his heart about his fears and dreams, it's usually with the simplicity of a child. So that's what I went for here.
Author's Response:
Date: 20 May 2013 15:27 Title: Gifted
Thinking about getting into Starfleet already, eh?
You captured the life of a gifted child well; they can definitely turn into troublemakers if not channeled and challenged.
Author's Response:
Oh, yes. Maren is nothing if not singleminded about her goals and very, very tenacious.
And yes, yes, yes to the gifted troublemakers. So many people think of gifted kids as dream students. NOT SO. They can be the hardest ones to teach.
Date: 20 May 2013 07:12 Title: Gifted
Oh, this is lovely. I enjoyed a child's view on a half-human classmate; the descriptors ring very true.
Author's Response:
Thank you! I just figure that by the 2360s in the Federation, aliens are so commonplace that it takes something really different to faze or interest a kid who's just grown up with it. Nose ridges and funny hairstyles? Not quite going to do it.
Date: 20 May 2013 07:10 Title: Gifted
Okay. So, baby Maren is like, the best. I love how her voice comes across as so intelligent, and yet so childlike, as well. You really nailed that mix between brilliant child and still-a-child. I love what she did to the playground equipment, I love that she wants to expand her experiences, and I totally love that she knows what she wants in life with Starfleet.
Author's Response:
Haha, "baby Maren." Maybe I should write that, too! Thanks for the compliment on her tone ... I'm a bit of an advocate for gifted kids and served on our local school board's gifted advisory. I was myself a gifted child and now I have a gifted child, so I could relate to this piece on a really core level. It felt really good to give gifted children a voice (however small) through Maren in this piece, and to be able to write her being offered exactly what she needed. I hope all gifted kids will be that fortunate WAY sooner than the 24th century.
Date: 20 May 2013 07:09 Title: Gifted
So gifted and smart, yet not quite the right fit for regular school. Even in the "utopian" 24th century kids still get lost in the system some time and Maren's gifted abilities are taken here as more of an annoyance than anything. I can understand Maren's mom being against it, as she's just a regular old farmgirl herself. You can def hear Maren's simultaneous regret and anticipation at having to switch schools, but her dream of Starfleet is right there to ground her. The playground upgrade is oh so Maren. Well done.
Author's Response:
Thank you, TF! "The system" is truly built for the majority, not the outliers. I imagine that would be true even in the 24th century. Luckily, by then, there are options available for the kids who need something different, and they don't cost a fortune like they do today. Maren's mom always tried to hold her back a bit -- she was worried about what might become of Maren if she raced ahead too far, too fast. And she looked at the future and saw that her youngest daughter, even at a young age was hellbent on leaving the planet ... and knew she'd get there someday. She just wanted to hold on a little tighter for a little longer.