"My first hint that this was a skewed view came in university. I very quickly learned that, while I may have been the “best” in all of my high school classes, I was now in a place where my peers had been the “best” in theirs as well — and in most cases, their best was better than mine. This realization automatically dulled some of my drive to succeed. I would never gain the admiration and accolades I had received my whole life up until this point, so where was the desire to try? Still, I managed to get by receiving relatively good grades without an extreme amount of effort."
I too was gifted. I too had problems in college upon realizing I wasn't the smartest guy in the room anymore - sometimes by a long shot. Fortunately I had a couple things to save me. One was an article pointing out that most of the millionaires, using being a millionaire as a proxy for success, were all average or "C" students in school. The article theorized it was due to the "smart" kids getting lazy because things came too easily for them. The other was I grew up in a lower class household and my father worked on the side on home improvement projects - kitchen, bathroom and family room remodels. I had to work with him since he often needed help. Unfortunately I had learned to apply a strong work ethic to work, but not to school. Once I made that adjustment everything turned out fine. I ended up graduating summa cum laude. Has my life turned out as I expected? No - and that's a good thing. But that's also another story!