Lee, EunjeongZentz, LaurenRhoden, BrendaHuhn, Kayla A.2024-01-172024-01-172023-11-20https://hdl.handle.net/10657/15912This study is a critical examination of gifted kid burnout and the effects of the gifted label on students in early adulthood as depicted in online communities and through interviews with those identifying with the gifted label. The data collected includes gifted-coded social media posts and the semi-structured interviews of four current college students and two high school seniors, all of whom have some degree of experience in U.S. gifted education programs. This research is not meant to represent all gifted experiences or explore how gifted labels are used within current U.S. or Texas educational programs; rather, my study centers on inquiry into specific discourses that occur regarding the experiences of gifted-identifying individuals, specifically the experience of 'gifted kid burnout,' a term used by online communities to describe the lack of motivation and subsequent negative behaviors and emotions experienced by formerly gifted-labeled students. The research questions this study seeks to answer are: (1) How is giftedness defined by gifted-identifying individuals? (2) What discourses occur regarding gifted kid burnout? and (3) How do these definitions and discourses reflect and reinforce wider educational structures?enThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. UH Libraries has secured permission to reproduce any and all previously published materials contained in the work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).English (Linguistics)SpanishGifted kid burnoutLinguisticsLabelingLabeling theoryMemesOnline trendsInternetAcademic hierarchyGifted educationGiftednessBurnoutHonors Thesis