how far did you get into school?

myself i didn't get to far, got to grade 10 then dropped out, school for me and some of my friends was mostly about selling and getting illegal things,sometimes i wonder if the principle was in on it, but that wasn't the only reason i dropped out, they basically told me and everyone in my lower classes ( not in the gifted classes ) that i could only become a carpenter, if you disagreed with teachers on immigration they would kick you out to the principles office, the principle had problems, one minute he was calm the next he was mad, he used to say this 90/10 thing where he spends 90% of his time on 10% of the kids, his solution for the 10%, put them in a small room all alone where you couldn't get up and ask for help or ask to go to the bathroom, i decided i would leave one day after they put me in there and left me till 4:10, until i decided to go ask for something and learned everyone was gone, the teachers all did drugs, mostly pot, one teacher would joke about how he was perma fried, i wasnt that bad of a kid, but the school changed me for the worse, i dont regret leaving.


what about you, how far did you get?

a reply to: theboarman

I almost completed a semester at college. Not really though. I went to a Catholic college, lost my religion, and then went to community college, lost respect for humanity, and chose to self educate, work for cash, and live like a savage.

I want to go back to school now. If I won the lottery I would go for fun everyday, get a million degrees in EVERYTHING and do something awesome for mankind so others dont lose faith like I did. Maybe spend my golden years promoting true spirituality and denouncing religion.

LOL

I still have to send 2 kids through college though, so I dont think I will be doing any of that. I dont know how to make real money. I am not even shy about it. My brain is not geared to it. I can make others lots of money, thats about it. I then have to become integral to their operation and nudge for more of a cut. Kind of sucks, but hey....I made my choices.

Just have to deal with my mistakes and teach my kids to be better than me.

It sucks to be poor at times and then not so much, and then poor again. LOL

EDIT TO ADD:
I did get accepted into a great arts school right out of HS. The new school in NYC. We couldnt afford it at the time, my parents were crucified by the IRS and I was the last kid after my sisters tapped them out after both going ivy league.

Colleges need to cut the crap and make their BUSINESS about teaching and less so about being a billion dollar a year business. Government subsidy makes them rack up the cost and predatory lending makes them kill peoples future right out the door.

I became disillusioned with the schooling system when I hit 16, so year 10-11. A conscientious Grade A-and-B student in year 10, a failure in year 11. I thought that I would repeat year 11 since I wasn't focussed and did so terribly, but, it wasn't to be. Within a month of repeating I thought f# it and went and got a job.

Was only retail, but, I felt a million times better actually earning and doing something for 40-50 hours a week rather than sitting in stifling classrooms with teachers who didn't give a damn and immature schoolkids I could care less about.

Ironically, now that I'm almost 30, I want to finish my year 12 properly, get good grades, apply for uni, and do something "more" than my current 25ish hours a week of staring at bogan customers whilst they peruse my store's wares. Or even better, wake up one day in an alternate universe of my dreams and live the way I damn well want to.

A few semesters of college, broken up with a few years between each return. Now I'm trying to decide if a degree is really worth it. Really, I feel trade school and apprenticeship should be resurrected for many fields.

I did about six years in college, and got two associate degrees when I should have gotten a Master's given the time I served. It has always seemed that I've had to put twice the time and effort into things for half the payback. My so-called career was just a string of jobs in my not-quite-professional profession...

After college, I began to educate myself and unlearn most of what I had learned.

a reply to: theboarman

I dropped out after a couple of stints at University.

I got halfway.

It took the other half to get out...

a reply to: theboarman

I made it to March of my senior year.
My school was completely useless. I learned nothing useful. The majority of the teachers were either idiots or didn't care. Or sold dope or were having sex with students. There were a handful of good ones though.

More accurately I made it to about December my senior year before I came up with this great scam. I would go to homeroom so I was marked as present for the day, then I would go to the nurses office and get some Tylenol for a "headache" then I would write Home on the pass and show it to the clerk in the school office and just go to work.

They weren't paying me to go to school and my boss who was married to a mailman with 3 kids was having sex with my 15 year old cousin. So I could do whatever I wanted pretty much. I would work 50 - 60 hrs a week while I was still in high school. I was a shift manager too raking in the big bucks, which would later come in handy for bail money. But I digress.

So anyway, I had been depted in to join the Marines in Aug after I was done school. But come March I hadn't really been to school besides homeroom for 4 months or so. The Marines called me up one day, after getting suspended for cutting class, and told me they could put me on a plane to boot camp on Tuesday.

15 years later, I'm still in the Marine Corps.

Somewhat similar to you I dropped out at grade 11. It was then I came to realize that I didn't want to be the person that the school was trying to mold me into.

Dropped out at 10th grade, worked some basic jobs, saved money, then started my own business.

I continue my education everyday. I have always had a little above average intelligence my whole life, I don't feel like I really missed out on much by leaving school. As long as I continue to invest in my business and grow it, I don't need to go to college.

a reply to: theboarman

I went to a 'Christian' college at 17yr old. Was booted out after the first 6 weeks (had 65 demerits) allowed 50 in one school year....that was 30yys ago.

I now am a first yr. Freshman, enrolled last semester. On the honor roll. Have been very successful in the I.T. world, had my own business for 17 yrs...

I've always dreamed of a college degree... but barely passed high school. ..

I'm knocking this off of my bucket list, and loving it!!!!!

I didn't get anywhere in school. You get nowhere in school, it is where you get after your done with school that counts.

I enjoyed my life experience so far. It was so much better after leaving college, having many types of work in my life. I would have got bored after a few years of any job I would have had. I need to learn to do everything there is to do before I die. School was boring for me and if I put in eight years of college then went to work in the field, I would have hated my work after six years of doing it. The longest I ever stayed on a job was six years, other than owning my own business which I had for over twenty years. I could pick and choose what kind of work I wanted to learn in my own business.

You never have to stop learning, but if you want to then it is your choice. I respect those who worked at one job all their life but it was not for me. Sometimes I get a little jealous of others that could just work at a job for a long time and be satisfied. It would have been easier.

Wow, I wouldn't have guessed so many never finished high school. Interesting. I was hard on the drugs till 10th grade when I knew if I didn't quit and get straightened out I was going to be dead or in prison. So, I quit and went to work framing condos here in Florida it was hot hellish work. Convinced me I surely didn't want a life of labor. I went back and graduated on the honor roll. Went straight to college that summer instead of waiting till fall. I got an associates degree and got the brilliant idea to join the Army. I say brilliant sarcastically. I went into the Military Police and had some background running weapons from high school days believe it or not. I also had a relative that was Army Intelligence during WWII, then went into the OSS. For those that don't know that was the Office of Security Services and they did the dirty deeds, done dirt cheap (always think of that AC/DC song). Then he was called on to help start the NSA where he finally retired. Not before he decided I needed 'help' in my career guidance. I got selected out of the Army and in a special Intelligence unit. That is what I call the real college of reality and the ways of this world. How things were done. Ugly things. I worked in there for about 10 years before I managed to get myself in some deep stuff that ended up threatening my life and my families. Stuff the government didn't like being involved in but had their hands all over. They didn't like me knowing either. My family member was in a position to see me able to walk away. However my background is continually erased every 2 to 4 years. Not sure why the time difference, but it made my life hard explaining to every employer why I didn't exist. Big corporations hired detectives, and other agencies trying to find out. I even had my divorce judge try to find out because of something my wife was making an accusation of concerning the safety of my children being around me because of where I worked. She was told she could not find out either.

I was in IT for some time and finally in 2004 I got my Bachelors Degree in Computer Science. However soon after I burned out and got my state license in Real Estate. I did that for about 10 years and got bored with that too after 10 years. I haven't worked the last year and a half and don't know what to do. Everything is boring to me compared to what I used to do. I am too shot up and broke up to do anything like that any more. I was offered a job as a sniper on a fugitive apprehension team, under one condition. I had to get off the pain meds. I couldn't do it. My pain is so bad that is drives my blood pressure to stroke levels quickly if I don't keep the pain at moderate levels. Sometimes I think about going back to school to get a masters or a doctorate. Maybe that would lead to an enticing job.

Having no background is a problem though. I went to open a bank account and I filled out the paperwork went home and the next day got a call from the bank manager. She asked if I could come in and see her. I went in and she asked me if I gave her the right information. I said of course and she had this disgusted look on her face and pulled out this piece of paper. It was my background she said they run on all account holders. It has 17 background inquiries. I looked and it said 1) DL is of legal issue in the state of Florida. No other information available. Not even my name was on it even though she had a copy of my DL. 2) MY SS# was of legal issue in the State of Florida. No other information Available. That was it. The rest of the 17 items all said No Information Available.

You can imagine what goes through peoples minds. I worked for AT&T, Winn Dixie, AOL, and other major corporations. Their security departments all freaked out as I was hired before background investigations were completed back then. I can't tell them anything much except I worked for a deep cover intelligence unit and it is all highly classified. That is all I can tell you. I could tell them the agency, but they will neither confirm or deny I ever worked there.

So, I had quite an education, none of which the schools taught me. However, to do that kind of thing on my own would be insane to say the least. I could make plenty of money at it, but it literally makes you insane to carry on like that. I don't expect it would last long. I sort of feel like people with no or insufficient education in that finding employment especially today with the background checks they do almost impossible. I feel like I am in a flat spin, out of control, nowhere to get out, nowhere to go, and it is closing in on my life and mind. My family tries to help but can not help in these matters. I keep going back to the Army motto FIDO (F It Drive On), but I am fast getting to the end of the rope. I have a close 35 year friend that helps me psychologically with some things, but even he is off in the weeds on this one. So, those who determine education being years spent listening to lectures in school, or degrees it is not the true education one gets living life. There is nothing like living life that will teach you things you truly need to know to survive in this world, unless you are going to be a Doctor, Lawyer, etc.. Even then what you learn in real life makes or breaks you in those careers.

So, the motto of this story is, don't judge people or abilities by documents framed on a wall. That can be the most deceiving thing there is.

FIDO Friends!

I stopped doing homework in first grade. I think it was 10th grade I was kicked out for skipping over 50 days of school. Sometimes a day here and there sometimes skipping a whole week. I had passing grades. When I was 23 I took sat for first time got better than anyone I know.. Went to college for a year and yuck remember why I hated it in the first place.

Now I work all the time cooking mostly. At 11 an hour And 40 hours I do alright for myself. I joined the army before college but that ended with me hearing out of one ear lol... In any case I would have been better served on my own path of my choosing. I'm not too bad off though health insurance would be nice lol

a reply to: theboarman

I only made it to 9th grade due to circumstances out of my control. Got my GED did my associates degree, not that it's worth anything employment wise anymore.

School got to be boring to Me,so I dropped out in 11th grade,and got my GED 2 yrs later.

a reply to: theboarman

I have a BA Honours degree in Public relations and Business Management.

I went all the way, as there was no other option in my family. I have £25,000 of debt, which get's taken off at source and I have until 55 to pay it off, and then the remaining balance gets wiped.



I don't really use my degree much, and so far my career at my current company is based on my personality and being able to get stuff done.

Currently doing MA(ed) -education and global change
Still £12 000 to pay on my student loan from my BA

in four more years I will be reading for my doctorate

Dropped out midway through grade ten. Family responsibility was more important then. Years later I finished my high school degree,and went on to graduate a course in business management.

I had no idea so many people never finished high school...

Got my bachelors in Electrical Engineering last year.