I’m genuinely curious. What did you study? What was the experience like? What were your struggles and victories? What impact do you think it made in your life? Do you wish you did anything differently?
I barely made it out of high school. As I got into my mid-teens I was more interested in what was out there in the world and I mostly viewed school as a barrier to my independence, so my only goal was to serve my time and not look back when I was done.
Once youth wore off I shoveled shit for many years but managed to turn it around in my 30s. Now I’m almost 40 and doing quite well actually, but my path wasn’t pretty. I often think about what life would have been like had I done things differently, but I don’t have much context.
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I was a pretty horrid student in high school. I have no idea how I graduated honestly. I never took the SAT or ACT, entire plan was military and military only.
Life on the other hand said, “Maybe not”. I ended up getting out and working full time while raising a small family. Realized I had to go to school for something. I went for business, that led me into an internship, which turned into a job in my current industry. Being mid 20s and in school sucked still but not nearly as bad. Late 20s heading into 30 I had a wild hair up my ass to go get a masters in history. Fell in love with the program, subject, and school. Graduated in the top 5% and have done some sweet ass shit since then.
Education is not for everyone nor does everyone need to climb an academic rung of shit just to have a piece of paper. I realized as I matured I thrived in the academic environment and being a student later in life was a great experience.
Wouldn’t change any of it.
Growing up in my Indian Immigrant community, there was only one option after high school – college. I went to a good, private school in Boston and it was honestly a evolutionary stage for me.
My grades were never stellar, but I made life-long friends, developed the skills I needed to lead and strategize (mostly via a Dance team), and found some amazing mentors via internships. Despite not having the best grades because I skipped a lot of class and never did my homework, I did learn a lot, especially how to write really, really well.
The combination of coming out of my shell, making friends, and learning a few skills has just helped me move through life in a way that I think has been successful.
I was a slacker in high school with exceptional test grades, especially with standardized tests. I slacked off on homework and attendance but did well on tests, basically.
I thought I was going to breeze through college, and for community college, this was true. I followed the same pattern (slack off, do well on tests). Then I transferred over to a university.
The university was a completely different story. I couldn’t slack off; the university followed the quarter system (as opposed to a semester system). There wasn’t enough time for me to slack off and then catch up. Those were some stressful times.
My degree was in Computer Science.
I bailed at 17 after repeating two grades. Actually scored almost double the average score of a High School Graduate on the Navy entrance exams of the time (1973).
Guess I was not as dumb as I and others thought I was.
Anyway I spent 4 1/2 years exploring the Mediterranean and Caribbean along with the North Atlantic. Went from Recruit (E-1) to Second Class Petty Officer (E-5) while visiting 26 or so different countries.
DD214, GED, AAS, BAAS and M.Ed
Yeah I did it the hard way; but man what a ride.
I haaaated the school part of high school, was a straight 50 student.
I ended up going to trade school for carpentry because working in a factory made me wanna jump off a cliff lol. Did an apprenticeship, decided to go to college after because I couldn’t afford to live.
Went to college for civil engineering tech. Hated every second of school, finished it kicking and screaming, now I design buildings and bridges and I’m self studying to get my stamp and pinky ring.
I hated it but did well. Studied psychology. Teachers couldn’t teach their way out of a paper bag. Then went back to school for programming and cybersecurity another 4 years. Did that. Teachers sucked ass. Eventually I just started taking the books and throwing them in the trash and using the internet. I blew all the other students out of the water. People thought I was some kind of genius but I just saw that the education that teachers were giving was fucking stupid and ignored it. And any of the people I was in class with would have done as well as me if they’d done they same thing. The school failed them. I don’t think there should be college anymore unless it’s something you have to do. Like a surgeon or a cop or whatever. Stuff you absolutely must be in a classroom for. Because being in a classroom is the worst way to learn that humans ever invented.
2 years Business Administration Diploma
then
1 year and one course of Computing Systems Technology (Advanced Assembler course did me in)
then
2 year Biological Sciences specializing in Ecology Diploma
My long term career (29 years) was none of those things but I did use the skills I learned in all of them throughout my life.
I HATED high school, it was miserable. I was in all the university-level prep classes but didn’t do well. I ended up going to a college (less academically demanding) for chemical engineering, which while still demanding, was much more enjoyable.
High school bored the hell out of me — so much so that I skipped my graduation. If I had applied myself, I could have been one of the top students, but I simply didn’t care (and still don’t regret it). I was a loner and associated with no one. I doubt anyone I went to school with would even remember me.
I got an OKish score on the SAT and started going to a 4-year college in my hometown — that lasted 2 years. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to major in. I was interested in art and journalism, but didn’t think there was much of a future in those fields (accurate). I often skipped class to go read in the library or wander around outdoors. I also flunked college algebra 3 times. The third time caused me to lose my funding, so I dropped out.
A few years later, I started going to a local technical college to study Web design. I’d already been working in Web design for several years, and after a couple of quarters, I realized I wasn’t learning anything I didn’t already know. So I dropped out of that, too.
Despite my lack of education, I’ve often managed to stumble upon unique and interesting jobs — not always well-paying, mind you, but I’ve done OK. When I was in my early 20s I did a couple of years in awful retail jobs and a year at a phone center, but since then, most of my jobs have been odd little niche positions that seemed to be tailor-made for my skills and personality. My longest job was at an environmental non-profit and lasted 9 years. I didn’t even interview for it.
I tried a coding boot camp a couple of years back and decided it was a waste of my time and money. A few months later I got hired for my current job in a similar field. Now I work from home and make more money than I ever have.
I’m not opposed to higher education at all — and I’m sure it’s the right choice for many. For me though, it’s never really worked out. I’ve always passionately studied subjects that interest me, and that’s made me very knowledgeable about many things, even if I don’t have a degree to prove it.
I got reasonably good grades in high school and scored a couple points above average on the ACT. I went to a state university and studied business. My parents always expected me to go to college (a thing my dad now denies 6 ways to Sunday). But I graduated after 5 years and I got a job. Covid threw me for a loop and I decided to go back to school to become a teacher. I picked a shitty university, spent 3 years in a 2 year program and dropped out because I stopped seeing the point in continuing. Now I’ve moved and am in the early phases of starting a business. Which I have impeccable timing since the current president is trying to crash the economy. I personally never want to go to college as long as I can help it now. I also don’t see the value in private higher education, unless you get into an ivy. Not to mention, working in k-12 education just sucked where I was living.
I never enjoyed school, and I viewed college as a means to an end which is a decently paying career. I did engineering because I knew it would open higher paying opportunities then most other majors.
I was never a great student, I was good enough. I can’t imagine I’d learn anything if chat gpt existed back then.
I graduated HS in ’06. I was a good student (Top 25%), mostly B’s.
I was a terrible student in college, though – mostly because I had no real idea what I wanted to do. My parents told me I had to have a college degree, so I went to school, but I had no direction. It took 6 years, but I finally got an undergrad degree in Communication.
In 2021, I decided to go back to school (online) to get my Masters. I went back for many reasons:
And I did it! I graduated in 2023 with my MBA and a 3.8 GPA. It was almost entirely a great experience.
I graduated in the top 10% of my class in high school. Took a few AP classes. Went to college to study computing. Sucked badly at programming but was good at most other things. Ended up graduating with honors.
College was a good time, but it wasn’t much of a social experience for me. Sure I had a friend group, sure we did stuff outside of classes. But since I went to a local university and lived at home instead of on campus I probably missed out on a lot.
The degree plus an industry certification got me my first job out of college for sure. I’m still at that same job over a decade later, but how much longer I’m staying is an unknown at this point.
I was a lazy c average student in high school. Didn’t do homework but aced tests and barely graduated. First two years of community college I had no idea what I wanted to do and ended up dropping courses my last two semesters. Joined the military, deployed, came home, grew up some and started school back in my late 20’s(online) where it was much more doable.
Went to college then grad school.
Undergrad was business. It exposed me to tech which is ultimately where i landed. Went back for masters in business and IT.
Biggest struggle early was time management and adapting to the freedom of college. once i started taking courses that i was actually interested in school got easier. grad school was tough partially because i was working full time in tandem so school was secondary. But i persevered.
I might have gone into Computer science had i been exposed to that earlier. I’m teaching myself to code so never too late.
I did a business degree, moved to Asia for a decade to have fun, got a master’s degree, started a business, worked in tech for a decade, transitioned into government and as of a month ago I’m at a bank. It was a weird road to roughly where my degree would expect me to be. I’ve taken some credential courses, and when I’m finished that diploma I would like to get an MBA.
I bounced around different high schools every year, sometimes changed high school twice in a year due to family moving around alot. After high school, was a bit lost on what to do, worked a variety of different jobs, before deciding to study for my degree part time. That’s what I’ve been doing since I was 20, working full time (sometimes working 1 x full time job and 1 x part time job) while studying part time.
After graduation, entered the IT field, started studying for professional IT Certifications part time while working, then 13 years ago, returned to university to study part time (along side working) for my Masters degree – graduated. And now finishing up my second one.
So from someone who didn’t have a good high school experience to someone who has worked their way up career wise and academically, I’m pleased with myself. However like you, I do think what my life would be like if I have take a different path, made different decisions….
Psychological torture. Don’t get me wrong, the school part was easy, I picked a major I was good at and everything, but it was the big questions like what the fuck am I going to do with my degree? Why am I even going to college? How am I going to pay these loans off? Why can’t I be as happy as all these others twats? Those killed me. I also hated college “culture” and still do. No, nothing to do with woke bs, or any of that, but this;
https://youtu.be/cGBmZMrW09Q?si=HVMN4uhh1ki9hh_Z
I actually came out okay, have my loans paid off and have been in my field for over a decade now but I feel incredibly lucky. I still feel weird about my college town. It was kind of just a place a went for 4 years to pay money and struggle. It’s definitely not somewhere I “claim” or think fondly of
Hated it. Had undiagnosed ADHD so school was a slog. Vowed never to go back to school because it just wasn’t for me.
I never did great in high school but I also never tried. I went to community college right after high school because thats what all my friends were doing and I had no other plans and all I knew at the time was going to school so I sort of treated it like 13th grade. I ended up failing 4/4 classes. Did two more semesters of this and passed 2 classes then figured I should stop waiting time and money so I worked two dead end jobs.
When I was 25 I was sick of dead end jobs so I decided to give school another try. I was a lot more mature and motivated and had more of a plan than I did when I was 18 right out of high school. I got my bachelors degree at 28 and swore I’d never go back to school. I’m 33 and currently back in college getting an AS degree for a specific job. I’ve always enjoyed learning and hated school and school has never come easy for me. I have to study and do a lot of work to get good grades I’m working full time and doing school full time and I hate it because it’s so much work. I just tell myself it’s temporary and it will be worth it when I’m done but it’s just annoying.
I never really knew how to study but once I started taking my education serious and go into better study habits school got a lot easier for me.
After highschool, I worked a night shift 48 hours a week while taking 4 to 5 classes per semester in college. It definitely builds character and a serious work ethic.
High school hated me and I was extremely happy to reciprocate.
Joined the military and it was similar during basic and main phases. As soon as I started my speciality everything changed. I loved my speciality and it loved me.
Grades changed from 60% to distinctions. Scored the highest in the most difficult subjects. Subjects everyone found difficult, just made sense and soon training for subject matter expert was made available – passed all of them with flying colours.
After leaving the military, the trend continues.
I have an ISTP personality and get easily bored. In my last year at high school I was facing failure in maths and consequently not achieving the overall qualification. Fortunately I had a fantastic teacher who confronted a small group of us at the beginning of the year and said we were going to fail and offered us extra tuition. I accepted and got a sound pass. I went on and got a science degree, got a job as a geologist immediately after finishing and worked in that field for a while but found it required living in very isolated locations- well paid but no fun for a male in their early 20s. I ended up retraining in a different field and with a post grad degree with 1st class honours. I got part time work in that profession while at uni and full time on completion and never had a day of unemployment until I voluntarily retired, and now do my own research. Ironically I had been dissuaded from training in that field by a school vocation advisor, and would have been in line for some lucrative positions had I graduated earlier. I never regretted changing track in my early 20s.
I quit high school, spending my senior year ski-bumming in CO. When I turned 18 in 1965 I joined the USAF to avoid the draft and being sent to Viet Nam. They sent me to technical school to learn basic electronics and then computer maintenance—excellent technical education: 6 hours/day classroom instruction for 51 weeks with no distraction of other academic subjects.
I went to an elite college and got a degree double majoring in a hard science and the humanities. I also got a master’s degree in my 30s.
My college years were a very rough time for me. I fell in with some dangerous people and my mental health took a lot of damage. I barely passed in the end. So… school does not have the fondest associations for me? And high school was a lot of grinding and getting through it. I love learning but I was never a good match for formal schooling. Grad school was a cakewalk, but also reminded me of how much school just… sucked, and how much less capable I feel in a classroom than out in the world.
I didn’t end up using my degree for much (until I went to grad school I guess) but in retrospect I am very grateful for the education I have. I see and understand a lot of things that are hard for people to grasp, and I can communicate and express myself very well. Not in an elitist way, but I encounter people suffering from having gotten worse education a lot and how much it deprives them.
I will be poorer than my parents and I generally don’t feel bad about not being able to pass down the same standard of living to my kids but I will not let them have a worse education than I did. I see the difference it makes all the time and I’ll grind my ass off for that if I have to.