Shortly after graduating from college, I started a job at the Tax Foundation, a non-profit organization in Washington, DC, with a mission of educating lawmakers and the public about tax policy. Taxes sound boring to many people, but tax policy is actually really interesting: The tax code affects nearly everybody and everything, and tax policy is an important tool for building a strong economy and a fair society. I was lucky enough to be working in DC when the 2017 tax bill was being passed. It was a hectic but exciting time; we were publishing new reports every day to keep up with every development and having frequent meetings on Capitol Hill.

After the 2017 tax bill was passed, it seemed like things were quieting down on the tax policy front in Washington, so I decided to apply to law school. I was lucky enough to be admitted to NYU Law, where I’ve enjoyed studying for the last three years. Once I graduate, I plan to start work as a tax attorney at a DC law firm.

My biggest news since high school, though, is that I’m engaged to be married in May!

What is a favorite 优蜜视频/CDB memory?

I remember fondly my first Bradley Seminar, which took place in Dallas. It was my first time meeting the other Bradley Scholars, and it was a really fun time. It was also my first time in the state of Texas!

What words of wisdom would you pass on to current 优蜜视频 students?

Don’t be too busy. Find time to relax, to hang out with friends, and to read for fun. Some people feel pressure to do a million extracurricular activities, but you’ll have a better time if you pick just a few activities that you really enjoy and find meaningful.

The new school year has started and an exciting year of learning is in full swing! Whether you鈥檝e just started at a brand new school or in a new class, here are some tips on greeting the new school year with confidence, meeting new people and keeping yourself grounded.

1. Let your clothes speak for you. Meeting new people is not easy for some students. (In fact, it can be difficult for adults, too!) If you want to engage your peers in conversation, but don鈥檛 quite know what to say, see if you can get them to speak up first. Do you have a favorite t-shirt? Maybe one that鈥檚 unique or one-of-a kind? You鈥檇 be surprised at how easily a t-shirt, hat or pin can start up a conversation. My favorite animal is the hedgehog and whenever I wear this shirt, people inevitably ask me about it:

You might have a t-shirt from your last vacation, a hat with your Harry Potter house on it, a pin or button from your favorite band or a jersey from a popular 鈥� or even little-known 鈥� sports team. Letting your classmates know what your interests are by expressing yourself through fashion will lead to some great conversations.

2. Remember to breathe. After a summer of camp, vacation, barbecues and adventures with friends and family, getting back into the school year routine can seem daunting. It may seem counterintuitive to add another 鈥渞outine鈥� to your day, but consider meditation. Taking 10-20 minutes to yourself each day to quietly reflect and focus on breathing can help center you and restore a sense of calm. You can do it in silence or with music, or use any of several apps to guide you. You鈥檒l be surprised how something so seemingly simple can have such a large, positive effect on your well-being and outlook.

3. Digital detox: Though a lot of schools now have a one-to-one tablet or laptop program, and more and more schoolwork has a technology focus, make sure you find time 鈥� throughout the week, if not every day 鈥� to unplug, especially at night. Swap your e-reader for a good, old-fashioned book; play a board game instead of a video game; draw, paint or sketch; pick up an instrument instead of an iPod. Being in nature is also a great way to recalibrate, whether it鈥檚 taking a walk, playing Frisbee, riding your bike or having a picnic. Swap screen time for green time for fresh air and a fresh perspective.

4. Write it down!: Let鈥檚 face it: our lives are hectic. After school hours are spent shuttling from piano to soccer to art class to scouts. Sometimes, it鈥檚 nice to take a minute and reflect on all the things we鈥檙e grateful for 鈥� including the people and opportunities we鈥檙e afforded. Keeping a gratitude journal is a great, intentional act that can quickly turn even the most hectic mind calm. A gratitude journal can be blank and freeform or include prompts with different ways of experiencing thanks, such as 鈥淲hat are three sounds or songs you heard today that made you think of something you鈥檙e grateful for?鈥� or 鈥淲hat is something someone else did today that made you grateful to have that person in your life?鈥�

5. Replace 鈥淵es, but鈥︹�� with 鈥淵es, and鈥︹�� One of the most basic rules of improv comedy is that you don鈥檛 counter what someone says to you; you run with it. If your scene partner hands you a 鈥減hone鈥� and says an alien is on the line, you can鈥檛 say, 鈥淵es, but that鈥檚 ridiculous.鈥� Rather, you must then begin speaking with that alien: 鈥淵es, and he just told me that he wants to play baseball this afternoon.鈥� And so the scene continues. This is a great strategy to employ in everyday life 鈥� especially when trying new or challenging things. If someone asks if you had a good day at school, instead of responding with, 鈥淵es, but math was really hard and I don鈥檛 think I鈥檓 going to like it,鈥� try 鈥淵es, and I鈥檓 looking forward to understanding these new math concepts that were introduced today.鈥� A negative reaction can be an easy way out if something is frustrating you, but intentionally reacting positively will ultimately pay off much more.

6. Vary your activities: A good rule of thumb is to be involved in one activity you enjoy because you鈥檙e good at it, one social activity and one activity that is new or challenging, but also enjoyable. Maybe you鈥檙e not a confident public speaker, but you鈥檙e involved with a community theater group that requires you to cultivate that confidence in front of large groups. If you can make 100 free-throws in a row, you鈥檝e developed a skill. By stepping back to the three-point line and working to master that skill, you鈥檙e not only developing muscles, but also valuable muscle memory. Greeting challenges with confidence and an open mind will have lasting benefits both in and outside the classroom.

What are some of your favorite back-to-school tips and strategies for success?

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Do you fit in? Do you have friends? Do you filter your feelings, your thoughts, your ideas or your words when around others? Have you 鈥減layed the part鈥� to be accepted?听 Are you worried about losing your true self?听 Do you wonder if you will ever be understood?听 Do you feel things so intensely that sometimes you think there must be something wrong with you?

Pretty deep questions for a kid to have to deal with, huh? Well, like it or not, questions and thoughts like this are what many gifted outliers deal with.听 It is not easy to look like a kid, yet think, worry and fret over issues that are so not 鈥渒id-like鈥�. On top of not being easy, there is the issue of not having anyone to rant to, or talk to, or just hang with that also understands you. A lot of us gifted kids don鈥檛 have a tribe.

Finding My Tribe

This year in June, I, like so many other kids across the country, will be attending summer camp.听 However, my summer camp is so much more than just a summer camp.听 I will be attending听 听 鈥� It鈥檚 located in the beautiful mountains of Colorado,听 far away from cities, technology and really far away from my home in California.

Yunasa West is where I鈥檝e found my tribe. It is a summer camp program for gifted kids to help them understand themselves; and for me, it鈥檚 helped me understand that I belong.

鈥榊unasa鈥� means Balance in Lakota, and the goal of the one week camp is to balance all sides of giftedness 鈥撎齣ntellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical. This is not as easy as it sounds, since balance does not come naturally to kids who tend to be 鈥渉igh-energy鈥� in their area of strength. Yunasa gives us a chance to strengthen our weaknesses and grow; all in an attempt to achieve balance. Every time after camp, I go away knowing more about myself, and feeling more like I truly have a place in the world.

One week?听 All of this听in one tiny, little week?

Sure, one week of being with a group you really belong in may not seem like enough time, but it is!听 I came away from my very first summer at Yunasa with knowledge 鈥� the following knowledge:

Everyone belongs 蝉辞尘别飞丑别谤别.听There is always someone like you in the world.

It gives me something to look forward to for the next year, as well as the knowledge that I鈥檓 not alone in the world.

I’m Home

The words, 鈥業鈥檝e found my tribe,鈥� will be mentioned a lot here, and I want to share something with you, to help fully express how true those words are.

I have experienced 鈥渇irst day of camp鈥� thrice, and on each of those first days at Yunasa, the words 鈥淚鈥檓 home,鈥� run through my mind鈥ver and over.

I know I鈥檓 safe at Yunasa, and I can be me. I can let go of my chameleon-ness.听 I can talk about things that outside of Yunasa, would just cause people to stare at me confusedly, and/or then tease me about.

My home with my tribe is a place where I can talk about nearly being knocked off a hill by a tiny plant that wasn鈥檛 even moving; all because I was holding my hands out to it 鈥� and not be laughed at.

The place where people don鈥檛 tease me about my grade level, or ask if I鈥檝e skipped grades. The place that I fit in. My second (or is it my first?) home.

Belonging is more important than fitting in.

Being a part of my tribe, means I am respected and my knowledge and my knowing is valued and can be shared with others. The same is true of the elders in our tribe; their knowledge and knowing is valued and they lovingly pass it on to us.听 Being this odd, different, quirky kid can be a little scary. We can look around searching for proof that we will be okay. We search for adults who are like us, so we can be reassured that we too can grow up and grow into our true selves. It is sometimes hard to find those examples of our future selves, (too many people have hidden themselves, or have played the part of a chameleon for so long that they have forgotten who they really are) so when we are at Yunasa, we look up to our elders, and breathe a sigh of relief.

Stephanie Tolan, one of the Camp Elders, and听 a Senior Fellow of Yunasa, compares gifted kids and cheetahs.

鈥淚f a cheetah is confined to a 10 X 12 foot cage, though it may pace or fling itself against the bars in restless frustration, it won鈥檛 run 70 mph.

IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?

If a cheetah has only 20 mph rabbits to chase for food, it won鈥檛 run 70 mph while hunting. If it did, it would flash past its prey and go hungry! Though it might well run on its own for exercise, recreation, fulfillment of its internal drive, when given only rabbits to eat the hunting cheetah will run only fast enough to catch a rabbit.

IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?

If a cheetah is fed Zoo Chow it may not run at all.

IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?

If a cheetah is sick or if its legs have been broken, it won鈥檛 even walk.

IS IT STILL A CHEETAH?鈥�

鈥溾�chools are to extraordinarily intelligent children what zoos are to cheetahs. Many schools provide a 10 x 12 foot cage, giving the unusual mind no room to get up to speed. Many highly gifted children sit in the classroom the way big cats sit in their cages, dull-eyed and silent. Some, unable to resist the urge from inside even though they can鈥檛 exercise it, pace the bars, snarl and lash out at their keepers, or throw themselves against the bars until they do themselves damage.鈥�

-Stephanie Tolan听 (

Yunasa, to me, is a place where cheetahs can run full-speed, with no bars to hold them back. A place where we can grow and learn about ourselves, and where we are given tools to help us鈥� out in the 鈥榬eal world.鈥�

Yunasa is an amazing refuge and a second home,听 if you feel like you don鈥檛 fit in 鈥撎�补苍测飞丑别谤别.听

It鈥檚 a place to just be yourself and a place where you will learn to balance all parts of yourself.

I Belong

I have found a place where I belong. I have found a place where I can see a little of myself in my peers. I have found a place where I can see my future walking along side me.听 Yunasa exists for longer than just one week, as I always take a little of it away with me each summer, and nurture it until I return the next year.听 I have learned to live for every moment of every day, and not just for my one week homecoming at Yunasa. Yes, Yunasa has helped teach me this!

If you are interested in applying for a Yunasa Summer Camp, please for more information and full application.

This post originally appeared on Hannah’s blog,听, and has been reposted with permission.