Nor,

I think I understand your pain. I was an exceptional ballet dancer as a child and did very well acting in theater and writing stories. My mother made me stop doing all of it. She used to rip up the poems and stories I would write and put them in the trash.

I ended up dropping out of school during the 11th grade and I have no college degree. I'm not blaming my mother for this but I do think that if she would have allowed me to continue to excel in the things that I was good in, I would have stayed in school and probably pursued a career in the arts.

I checked "yes" to the poll. I taught myself to write poetry, I studied via online forums and read a lot. I have published poetry in various lit journals, but to this day I'm still sad about the lost opportunity that I could have had.