[Allen14n]

I'm currently a junior in high school, and the workload is so stressful. I constantly have projects. However, I feel like giving up on trying because of the low acceptance rates lots of these colleges have. I gave up on some of the schools I really considered a long time ago, but I feel like I'll just end up at some community college now. Also, I don't even have any extracurricular activities because my mom doesn't believe in that stuff. She doesn't even know how the whole process works.

School just seems like a joke to me. Teachers grade unfairly. You simply can't compare two students based on grades. They might have different teachers, and different teachers grade differently. How the hell are you going to compare two different students from two different schools? You just can't. It's unfair. The only thing that's actually fair and reasonable in this process is the testing. I'm talking about the SAT and the ACT.

Most of the concepts I'm learning in school won't help me in the future in the first place. The only classes I enjoy and find helpful are English class and this other class about religions. I'm pretty sure teachers have looked down on me for my grades. This school year is just a mess.

I'm frustrated because I know for sure there are some arrogant idiots out there who think they're all that just because they made it into certain colleges, although other people deserve their spots in these schools. It's messed up. I'm more than what my grades are.

I know you guys are probably gonna say some stuff like "grow some balls" or whatever, but I really just had to get this stuff off my chest.

[Piperka]

I don't know how the whole system works in America but doesn't only the last highschool year matter in terms of getting into colleges/universities?

[E.A.B.]

QUOTE

feel like I'll just end up at some community college now.

Yeah, how f*cking shameful

Getting paid 300 dollars for 30 minutes worth of work (boiler repair) may not get the snobby Starbucks crowd on your side, but it will pay the bills

QUOTE

I'm frustrated because I know for sure there are some arrogant idiots out there who think they're all that just because they made it into certain colleges, although other people deserve their spots in these schools. It's messed up. I'm more than what my grades are.

College has never been about how intelligent you are; it's work ethic.

I can have a conversation with you on a variety of subjects, but that doesn't mean I like doing the work. I have a real sh*tty work ethic, but that doesn't mean I posses no knowledge on the subject.

That's how many students I've met pass. They don't fully understand the subject, but they hand papers on time and memorize details for tests.

This post has been edited by E.A.B. on Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 12:48

[Outcast]

if you think high school workload is stressful, wait 'til you get to university

[E.A.B.]

QUOTE (Outcast @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 07:51)

if you think high school workload is stressful, wait 'til you get to university

Depends on the university.

Some are so pathetically easy; like Medgar Evers in NYC.

What a piece of sh*t that school is

[epoxi]

There is no point going to a university that doesn't challenge you, otherwise the degree does not reflect your ability.

[ThePinkFloydSound]

I would say for your own personal satisfaction. Try hard. When you do good, you will feel great about yourself. When you feel great about yourself, you can do more things.

School is not just getting the grade, then going to college. If I knew what I know now, I would have tried a little harder. Just did the work. It builds your character. It's not about being a know-how in geography or French it's the exercise of using your brain, being able to problem solve and do the work. When you do this it very rewarding. It builds confidence and confidence opens doors.

Do the work, feel good about yourself get rewards.

Slack off, feel guilty, useless and not confident.

It's a no brainer.

Not saying it's easy. Doing the work is hard. But essentially this hard work will make your life easier. Everyone wants an easy life.

[E.A.B.]

QUOTE (ThePinkFloydSound @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 08:53)

Do the work, feel good about yourself get rewards. Slack off, feel guilty, useless and not confident. It's a no brainer.

Or drop out and go to a trade school instead

It seems like people feel the need to go to college for a middle class lifestyle when it just isn't required. At least, not 4 years.

It's like there's a want for the social prestige that it comes with. And if you don't attain it, you consider yourself lesser or a failure. It's really...stupid.

[GTA_stu]

Sounds to me like you're an intelligent guy, but you maybe don't put as much effort in as you could. The workload in school might seem like a lot, but trust me it's not. It will seem like a lot if you're not good at organising yourself and then let it all build up. You've got to keep on top of it and get it done early, otherwise don't bitch when you suddenly have a ton of stuff to do in a short period of time.

We all get frustrated sometimes, but you have to stay positive. Having a negative attitude won't get you anywhere.

[Chunkyman]

I understand how you feel. One of the highschools I went to sucked sooooooooo hard.

Community colleges are great, though. I think anyone who goes to anything other than a community college is overpaying.

[John The Grudge]

My advice is to give school 100%. After that go to college and study something you are passionate about (regardless of how unrealistic you think it may be). What I mean is even if you want to be an actor, a motorsport technician or a goddamn astronaut then do that. Anything less will not bring you happiness and it certainly wont bring you prosperity.

These are the best years of your life. You get to choose the path you'll take in life and also you get to hang out and be immature with your mates. Trust me do not waste it. Hit the gym, study hard and party hard. Later in life these memories will get you through some tough times.

[GTAvanja]

QUOTE (Outcast @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 14:51)

if you think high school workload is stressful, wait 'til you get to university

I find it a lot easier than high school. Mostly because I don't have to deal with so many morons. It's still filled with morons, but I don't have to be around them, I don't have to listen to them, and I can tell them to f*ck off without any repercussions from the "authority".
And of course there are less subjects. Only 6 each semester. Sure you have to learn a lot from these long ass boring books, but 6 important subjects is hell of a lot easier to keep track of than 16 I had back in high school, where 10 of those were completely meaningless and they didn't teach you jack sh*t.

To OP, look at it this way:

-do the work, go to college, have a chance of doing something good with your life
-be a slacker, don't go to college, be like Slamman

This post has been edited by GTAvanja on Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 14:39

[ThePinkFloydSound]

QUOTE (John The Grudge @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 15:24)

My advice is to give school 100%.  After that go to college and study something you are passionate about (regardless of how unrealistic you think it may be).  What I mean is even if you want to be an actor, a motorsport technician or a goddamn astronaut then do that.  Anything less will not bring you happiness and it certainly wont bring you prosperity. These are the best years of your life.  You get to choose the path you'll take in life and also you get to hang out and be immature with your mates.  Trust me do not waste it.  Hit the gym, study hard and party hard.  Later in life these memories will get you through some tough times.

Exactly. I actually dropped out of school due to personal issues. I wish I hadn't. I did a lot of drugs and drink but then I decided I wanted to do photography. I went to a community college, didn't finish that as I got a great industry oppurtunity that I couldn't refuse.

I'm happy enough now. I work at Xbox and do photography jobs and some video work on the side. I don't have a career as such but I'm slowly developing plans towards getting more photography work.

I've a site under construction and I've finally found what I want to do in photography.

So, like John said. Do what you want, if you can. You may not know what you want to do but seriously, you'll be a lot happier, even if it means you don't earn as much as the business guy you used to go to school with.

[FiS!!HeR]

If you want a job in an industry nowadays, you wouldn't find without a certification. For private and government sectors, they want to see how much you're qualified in your field of interest. However, this doesn't mean I agree on the way student are taught in school or university, neither I agree on the idea that marks are what make the distinguish between students, because you have a lot of factors that play a role in forming your final mark in a given course, and you have given a good example of the difference between teachers.

For me, I don't like sitting down in a university class for one and half an hour listening to a teacher giving us a lecture, because what I found in the last couple of years, is that self-learning can provide me with a lot more insight and understanding on a given subject. I sit home in a comfortable area with my reference book and the internet between my hands. I start reading and learning, and when I find something confusing in the book, I check out the internet to find more explanation, and between this and that, I start learning other side things not related to my subject, just because I kept searching.

However, I find that some advanced courses in my discipline, Electronic&Communication Engineering, need to be explained and taught by a capable and organized lecturer in a university. An example for such a course, is complex analysis. Unfortunately, in this course, I'm being taught by an old and non-organized, but very knowledgeable Professor. He's an electrical engineer, but most of his interest is in math researching, so no wonder he's more interested in providing proofs for established laws in complex analysis rather than providing calculation examples. On the other hand, you have other basic courses, such as circuit analysis and electronics, in which I scored excellent marks although I wasn't coming to class everyday.

For the constant traffic jams every morning in the city I live in, even on the ring road, you must fight in our lawless streets to get to the university on time, and when you do, you would be already tired and burnout. At least you have far better roads, and metro systems that can get you to the university while you're in a good state. Today, when I came back from the university, I was able to get to my home in 20 minutes, unlike the usual 35-50 minutes needed, and guess why? because there's a prince coming to the city, so the traffic lights were kept on green to empty the road from cars going in the north direction, so his mighty can go peacefully in an empty road without having to suffer from the constant traffic jams. Guess what country this is.

This post has been edited by FiS!!HeR on Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 15:01

[E.A.B.]

QUOTE (Chunkyman @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 09:22)

Community colleges are great, though. I think anyone who goes to anything other than a community college is overpaying.

Not if you're poor

I get 100% covered, and even get money back

Still, people that don't get assistance like I do get more flexibility. I have to take 15 credits every semester, which means that work really piles up sometimes. A kid in my class once said he's taking 4 courses this semester.

I envy that. A lot.

[chris]

I went to a community college and i'm not doing to bad, last year i was on £600 a week aged 19, quit being a f*cking snob.

[OnePiece]

I really hated school. I only went there for my year 12 certificate, I kind of lost all interest mid year 11 and fart arsed about for the last year and a half. Its funny to think of how everyone was freaking the f*ck out about studying and assignments like it was the end of the world. A couple years after you finish youll realize how dumb it all was. School can teach you how to work, but the work itself is entirely pointless. Dont take it too seriously.

[Allen14n]

QUOTE (ThePinkFloydSound @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 13:53)

School is not just getting the grade, then going to college. If I knew what I know now, I would have tried a little harder. Just did the work. It builds your character. It's not about being a know-how in geography or French it's the exercise of using your brain, being able to problem solve and do the work. When you do this it very rewarding. It builds confidence and confidence opens doors.

That's not what school is anymore. If it was, I'd appreciate and respect it more. However, now, people only go to school to accomplish their so-called "American Dream."

Here's the typical process:
Go to high school.
Get in some popular college where a bunch of celebrities, politicians, and snobby brats went to.
Use whatever degree you received to get a job.
Buy a mansion and multiple sports cars.
Brag your butt off whenever friends come over to your house or whenever you meet someone new, thinking you're a king just because people praise you for getting into a university with a low acceptance rate and being able to own a bunch of possessions.

Not only that, but you have to work your butt off just because of your desire for materialistic possessions. You want more and more, but you can't ever be fully satisfied. The only reason why people are doctors and engineers is because of the cash. Take that away from them, and they won't even think about being a doctor or an engineer. Doctors don't want to help people; they want the money. Money is sadly the motive, and people don't do things for the right reasons anymore.

This stuff just doesn't appeal to me. Materialism doesn't make me happy. I know I'm not going to live forever. Why suffer because of the influence of society's consumerism? I don't want to get caught in that trap. There's more to life than just owning a bunch of things. Too bad my family doesn't even realize I don't have to own a big house or drive nice cars to be happy.

That's how stupid and phony it is.

This post has been edited by Allen14n on Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 21:22

[Mockage]

Yeah go to College and end up being in debt later on. Or, you could work your ass off entirely and hope you earn a free scholarship to a prestigious University that offers degrees that are actually worth something in the job world. Other than that if you are sick and tired of schoolwork then do something else. Trust me, NOT going to college will not make your life as terrible as some people say. It's a joke. Be a professional Boxer or something. Go to a gym, work on some bags, lift some weights, get trained by a good instructor in whatever discipline and set yourself a nice position in this world. You don't have to be a lawyer or whatever to live a great life. Just make sure you don't dropout because you'll end up with a GED which I'm assuming is probably worth jack sh*t, at least where I'm from of course.

And yes, it IS all about money today. Soliciting it is literally human nature! We as humans believe any form of currency will derail problems but that isn't entirely right. Money buys happiness for a lot of people, but can it buy a fix for something? Sure. Can it fix everything? No. You don't need THAT much money to live a good and fun life. Do something you love and keep on doing it. If you're tired of schoolwork and can't take it anymore then deeply think about your future. Trust me, you don't wanna fail High School, especially today. Pass, maybe get into a good college, earn a degree and the rest is yours.

[K^2]

QUOTE (Piperka @ Wednesday, Mar 14 2012, 06:32)

I don't know how the whole system works in America but doesn't only the last highschool year matter in terms of getting into colleges/universities?

Nope. Other way around in US. All but the last year matter.

QUOTE (Mockage)

Trust me, NOT going to college will not make your life as terrible as some people say.

Job market sans education is bad and will be getting worse. Sure, having or not having a degree doesn't make a world of difference. Degree makes finding jobs easier, but doesn't get you better jobs on its own. But if all you've got out of college is a piece of paper, you've been doing something terribly wrong while there. If you are good at something already, you can get better at it. If not, you get time to learn it. Without an education you are a peasant and will only get a peasant's job. And if you think you have any sort of an education getting out of high school, you don't have a clue what you are talking about.