Dropping Out of High School: The Other Option

[Druidus]

When I was 15 I dropped out of school. When I was 16 I surfed in the morning and went to the library in the afternoon. When I was 17 I took a test that said I had the equivalency of a high school diploma. When I was 18 I got a passport, saved some money, and went traveling. When I was 20 I dropped out of college. When I was 21 I saved more money and went traveling. When I was 23 I started a business. When I was 24 I declared bankruptcy. When I was 25 I co-founded another business. I'm 26 years old.

There are no gold-stamped papers hanging behind my desk. I don't get alumni newsletters asking me for money. I won't be invited to any high school reunion. I will have no memories of Prom Night. I have touched the Wailing Wall. I have marveled at the iznik tiles in the Blue Mosque. I have hitchhiked the length and breadth of Ireland. I've gazed at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I have climbed the pyramids at Teotihuacan and walked on Hadrian's Wall.

My friends are getting out of grad school or else working their way up the corporate ladder. Some make more money than me. Some make less. Their classrooms were auditoriums and power-point presentations. My classrooms were chicken buses with a backpack of paperbacks. When they were stressing out about some test in some subject they may or may not care about in 10 years I was developing my palate for good Scotch whisky.

Dropping out doesn't resign you to flipping burgers and competing with day laborers. As long as you have a willingness to learn and a continuing desire to do so the lack of a gold-stamped paper becomes meaningless and can even give you an odd sense of pride.

It's truly staggering to realize the number of idiots and sycophants the college and university system churns out. Studies have shown that those with degrees are more likely to sell insurance, become assistant sales representatives, or *shudder* become teachers.

Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss.” I say nothing kills learning like an education.

~Anonymous

What do you think about dropping out, and school in general?

 

[Malus 12:9]

What is said in that article is possibly the most correct way of describing it. I left school at 15.

"Dropping out doesn't resign you to flipping burgers and competing with day laborers. As long as you have a willingness to learn and a continuing desire to do so the lack of a gold-stamped paper becomes meaningless and can even give you an odd sense of pride."

'tis true. Frubals to the article's author.

 

[CaptainXeroid]

For every one story like this author, I would bet there are at least 10,000 high school dropouts who spend most of their lives barely making above minimum wage. If you work hard and work smart, you can be successful regardless of your education, but statistically, the higher your educational level, the higher your lifetime earnings.

 

[kreeden]

I'm with the Captain here . Can a high school drop-out still get a job flipping burgers ? Many low end jobs now require high school at less . However , if one has enough drive , there are other ways ... there are exceptions to every rule .

 

[Tawn]

As a University Student I have to agree with the original message. Although my particular career choice required University qualifications, for most people theres no need to go to university. In fact here in England the Universities are running stupid courses for stupid people.. Leisure and Tourism? Whats the point? I think its better to travel and see the world if you want to learn about tourism. I thought Universities were for the academic elite?
No, theres been a push in my lifetime to get everyone to be office workers.. and if you end up doing manual work you are somehow a failure.. this was the school ethos.. and look now.. all those people who ended up becoming plumbers and builders etc.. are raking in the cash because we have a shortage of manual labour.. lol..

 

[ayani]

school isn't for everyone. but in general, finishing high school sounds like a good idea. you've got your GED behind you no matter what you do next. you've got the discipline and emotional bruises earned from your education. i'd say stick it out till graduation.

college is a different matter, i think. at that point, i feel it should be up to the individual.

i've come very close to dropping out of college a number of times. my reasons- not feeling in any way on the same level as my peers, emotionally or intellectually. mostly i'm like "what the hell are these people talking about?! what's up with all this abstract thinking?" and wanting to get a "real life" like with a job and an apartment. still up in the air about it.

 

[Melody]

"In general"....it's an extremely bad idea. While there are rare individuals who drop out and become successful entrepreneurs or parlay their life experience into a marketable skill, the majority of drop outs are not nearly as fortunate...or motivated. They spend their lives going from one minimum wage, unskilled labor job to another with no future.

Also, unless you have what it takes to become an entrepreneur, or you plan on bumming around from one unskilled job to another, you will have to apply for a job somewhere. Most businesses look at those who drop out as lacking in motivation and perseverance. They will almost always choose a high school graduate over one with no diploma. Eventually you can apply for a GED (most states have a minimum age of 18 unless there are exceptional circumstances) which will help this situation but in that time you could have graduated from high school as well.

 

[Prima]

Quite honestly, I would drop out if my parents would let me.

I am learning little to nothing here, and I feel that I would do much better when left on my own.

 

[cmotdibbler]

Druidus, you are fortunate to have the drive and ambition to start your own business. You chose a different route but that is half the fun. I wouldn't recommend dropping out of high school since it does represent the bare minimum for employment (in the US). I don't think college is for everyone but there are some fields that require very specialized training that make a university degree essential.

 

[Druidus]

Prima, you have stated my problem exactly.

I learn nothing in school. Literally nothing. In fact, everything I've ever learned has come from my parents, or books.

The schooling system is horrible. It needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. Society around it has changed, but schools haven't, besides a few minor changes. The government of Canada could save billions, by giving each school aged child a computer, and having them do school from home.

Do you think we wouldn't strive to learn? I know we would. As Einstein said (I don't remember the exact quote), "Each child is born with a spark, a flame, a thirst for knowledge. Schools destroy this. Education shouldn't be the filling of a bottle, but rather, the kindling of a flame. The schools have never done it for me, and I know they've never done it for many. All I've gotten there is emotional disturbance (which is never healthy, whatever you say about "emotional bruises"), depression (which I've only recently come to terms with), an unquenchable thirst for revenge against the system that did this to me, and pain. For me, sitting there, doing work that doesn't even require thought, or worse, doing nothing, is intellectual torture. Right now, if you told me that I could be graduated if I stuck a red hot nail through my hand, that nail would be through in seconds. Literally.

As for dropping out, I agree that it doesn't always work, but like the guy said, you have to thirst for learning. Sadly, schools remove this from most people.

 

[Fluffy]

Druidus you should try coming to a British school. Our education system is built specifically around the fact that pupils learn zilch at school. For example you do nothing that has any bearing on anything until your last 3 years of school in which you take 3 sets of important exams. In other words you laze around doing nothing for your childhood and then cram the night before the exam and walk out with a B easily. It won't get you into Cambridge or Oxford but who wants to go there anyways .

I am strongly against the education system as a whole. I feel it is the largest cause of teenage depression and encourages conformity whilst stifiling creativity whilst not actually teaching kids anything. The only thing I have picked up from my school is Maths but that is because I have a talent for it and I don't think I needed to be taught it since I learn just as much by picking up a Maths book and far more when compared to another subject such as History.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I was going to drop out, get my GED, go to college full time early, and from then Im not sure. But my parents wouldn't let me drop out, even though I explained to them I had everything planned out, and going to school is wasting much time.

 

[Druidus]

Fluffy, have you thought of going to a democratic school, like the Summerside School, somewhere in England? Students aren't forced to do work, in fact, you could spend the entire day playing video games. But the majority of students spend their time reading and writing. There are no oppressive grades. When they were taken to court by the British government, for not conforming to some school code, the government's case was not strong, and so they offered a settlement. The students and teachers at the court hearing then voted to accept it.

I like how each student chooses his/her own intellectual destiny.

 

[Fluffy]

Fluffy, have you thought of going to a democratic school, like the Summerside School, somewhere in England? Students aren't forced to do work, in fact, you could spend the entire day playing video games. But the majority of students spend their time reading and writing. There are no oppressive grades. When they were taken to court by the British government, for not conforming to some school code, the government's case was not strong, and so they offered a settlement. The students and teachers at the court hearing then voted to accept it.

I like how each student chooses his/her own intellectual destiny.

*happy sigh* that is a lovely place. Unfortunately, it is very nearly unique and there is no such school within a feasible distance (as I cannot afford to board). This is very sad, for me, because it is the kind of place I would love to go to. I remember I was first introduced to such a school through Blue Peter but by then I'd already passed my entrance exam to get into my current school and my parents forced me to go, thinking it was for the best.

 

[Original Freak]

Problem with the idealism is only people who want to learn outside school would benifit if they did. Most people who want to drop out don't want to learn, and end up flipping burgers.

I love what I do. I'm a draftsman. I suppose I didn't need college to aquire what I learned, but it would have taken a hell of a lot longer, and I don't think I would have learned as much. Just what I barely enough to get by.

I would love to go back to University and become an architect.

 

[Fluffy]

Problem with the idealism is only people who want to learn outside school would benifit if they did. Most people who want to drop out don't want to learn, and end up flipping burgers.

I love what I do. I'm a draftsman. I suppose I didn't need college to aquire what I learned, but it would have taken a hell of a lot longer, and I don't think I would have learned as much. Just what I barely enough to get by.

I would love to go back to University and become an architect.

Why is it a problem to end up flipping burgers for the rest of your life? Society should allow you to change this at any point you so choose. Unfortunately, by centering education around the youth, a lot of people feel they don't have this option.

 

[anders]

Unfortunately, by centering education around the youth, a lot of people feel they don't have this option.

It's not just a matter of chosing the right genetic makeup, it is also about chosing the right country. Following my BA in linguistics and M.Chem.Eng., I've worked for more years than some of you have lived. Now, after retirement, I'm going for at least a Masters in Divinity.

Dropping out isn't just a case of making a pause during your studies. A niece of mine graduated with a Master of Science in Business Administration and Economics. On her first job, she burned out completely. Then, after recovering sufficiently, she took an advanced course in photography. She proved to be very talented in that field, and has sold quite nicely on a couple of exhibitions at her school. Now, she and her mother are busy in their ceramics studio, and they will probably make lots of money and satisfaction out of that one...

So, it's more of a case of realizing what you're good at than collecting diplomas. Paperwise, there's not very much to to prove my expertise in technical translations. I just proved it to customers.

 

[robtex]

"In general"....it's an extremely bad idea. While there are rare individuals who drop out and become successful entrepreneurs or parlay their life experience into a marketable skill, the majority of drop outs are not nearly as fortunate...or motivated. They spend their lives going from one minimum wage, unskilled labor job to another with no future.

Mel is right on this Druidus. When you get older and job hunt you will learn in the first two years or maybe sooner that when marketing yourself to employers appearance and perception count for a lot. The sterotype presented to high school drops may nor may not be accurate the going perception is that of unmotivated and cognatively challenged.

While I can read your posts here and see you are really intelligent many others who look at your application is gonna see that you didn't complete high school and assoicate that with both IQ and persistance despite the obvious faults in the logic of that analogy.

Job hunting and resume writing is a lesson on positioning and the dept of your education is a factor to most irregardless of what you do or don't learn.

 

[No*s]

~Anonymous

What do you think about dropping out, and school in general?

Honestly? I have mixed feelings. Most of the time, from what I understand, it doesn't turn out as nice as that author's experience. Conversely, education may not help that much in its own right.

Normally, I'd frown on it, but there are occasions when I've supported it. Most recently, my brother got into some trouble at the school, hated it, and his lifestyle spiralled ever more into a negative direction. My Mother let him drop out of school and has sponsored his work for a GED. His leaving school had a direct impact on helping him straighten out. I fear that had he not done so, he wouldn't have finished anyway, but would have been in a very bad situation via friends or simply running away.

Like the above situation, sometimes dropping out is the least evil of several evil choices .

 

[Ceridwen018]

Our education system is built specifically around the fact that pupils learn zilch at school. For example you do nothing that has any bearing on anything until your last 3 years of school in which you take 3 sets of important exams. In other words you laze around doing nothing for your childhood and then cram the night before the exam and walk out with a B easily. It won't get you into Cambridge or Oxford but who wants to go there anyways

Has anyone here read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury? Scary.

Anyway, what seems to be the general consensus here is that in order to drop out of school and be successful, one needs to be extremely motivated. I can absolutely see how dropping out of school could totally work for a person, (Bill Gates, anyone?), but if you don't want to flip hamburgers, you have to work hard and have a lot of determination.

Not that it doesn't take determination and hard work to get through high school and college, because it most certainly does. Most people I've heard of who've dropped out of school, however, think that an end to school means an end to work, and that is just not so. If you are planning to drop out of school and pursue a more independent career path, your work has only just begun.

Ever since I was young I've dreamed of moving out East and becoming a working student for some horseback riding Olympian out there, and foregoing college in the process. Of course, being a working student is very hard work, and one has to be extremely motivated to stick with it until they can finally taste the fruits of their labors at the end, but its all I've ever wanted to do, because riding horses is what I want to do for my career. I can't learn how to ride at college, so doesn't an apprenticeship sound like a more logical path to pursue? It would really be exactly like college--it would teach me career skills. Anyway, my mom threatened to completely disown me if I tried to do something like that, so I guess its out of the question.