In this article, the authors describe McNair Middle School's Independent Study process. Each year in late January the authors connect to look at the calendar to schedule time for the seventh-grade gifted and talented (GT) students to come to the school library to begin their annual Independent Study. "Independent study is a planned research process that: (1) is self-directed; (2) is similar to one used by a practicing professional or is authentic to the discipline; (3) is facilitated and monitored by the teacher; and (4) focuses on lifelike problems that go beyond the regular class setting." Because the school library program operates on a completely flexible schedule, the authors have been able to engage in meaningful collaboration, planning, and coteaching to influence the effectiveness of this project through continuous improvement. Over the years, the focus and final product of the assignment has followed a variety of different avenues. Currently, students choose to investigate and pursue an activity or area of interest with the goal of learning to do something completely new. On the surface, this sounds like a fun project that the students will approach with enthusiasm, but the initial step requiring topic selection and establishing focus demonstrates the rigor of the process and tasks to come. Many students soon discover that this initial stage is the most difficult portion of the assignment. (Contains 3 figures.)