As a child—and as an adult as well—Bill was untidy. It has been said
that in order to counteract this. Mary drew up
weekly clothing plans
for him. On Mondays he might go to school in blue, on Tuesdays in
green, on Wednesdays in brown , on Thursdays in black, and so on ,
Weekend meal schedules might also be planned in detail. Everything
time, at work or during his leisure time.
Dinner table discussions in the Gate’s family home were always lively
and educational. “It was a rich
environment in which to learn,” Bill
remembered.
Bill’s contemporaries, even at the age, recognized that he was
exceptional. Every year, he and his friends would go to summer camp.
Bill especially liked swimming and other sports. One of his summer camp
friends recalled, “He was never a nerd or a goof or the kind of kid you
didn’t want your team. We all knew Bill was smarter than us. Even back
then, when he was nine or ten years old, he talked like an adult and
could express himself in ways that none of us understood.”
Bill was also well ahead of his classmates in mathematics and science.
He needed to go to a school that challenged him to Lakeside—an
all-boys’ school for exceptional
students. It was Seattle’s most
exclusive school and was noted for its rigorous academic demands, a
place where “even the dumb kids were smart.”
Lakeside allowed students to pursue their own interests, to whatever
extent they wished. The school prided itself on making conditions and
facilities available that would enable all its students to reach their
full potential . It was the ideal environment for someone like Bill
Gates.